Reimagining venture capital

… keeping an eye on democratising finance in India

The impeccably booted and suited tall foreigner-looking man with a broad smile on his face broke through the crowd and shook hands with me vigorously. “That was a great presentation. Are you by any chance looking for a venture capital investment in your business?”

This scene is set in an auditorium in Worli, Bombay, in 1998 and I had just finished my 30-minute power-point presentation, holding that business on the internet was the way to go in the future. After the silence with which my

presentation was received by the 400-plus audience gathered to hear about promising business ideas for the future,