Mohandas Pai aims for over Rs 71-bn investments in start-ups by 2020

Aims to bet heavily on domestic funds

T V Mohandas Pai, former member of the board of directors at Infosys Technologies and now a well-known investor, has set a rather steep goal. It is to have over a billion dollars (Rs 71 billion) worth of investments, both direct and indirect, in Indian start-ups by 2020.

Aarin Capital, a fund he co-founded with Manipal Group managing director Ranjan Pai (Mohandas Pai is also chairman of Manipal Global Education), has been investing in start-ups and other venture capital (VC) funds since 2012. In all, it has invested in 25 start-ups and 10 funds, amounting to $100 million (Rs 7.1 billion).

So