1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Anup Jain, Managing Partner of Orios Venture Partners (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What is the fund size of Orios?

Anup Jain: I would comment on the check size. The check sizes at the seed stages have gone up. In response to that, Orios invests anywhere between $1.5 million to $2.5 million in the seed stage. We look for some degree of data and traction before we make that investment. Pre-seed is an area that is very vibrant.

2021 was one of the high points for India as well. We feel that we should participate given the rate of digital adoption in the economy. Companies are being given the opportunity to scale much faster. They shouldn’t have to come back to investors over shorter periods of time to seek an extension of runways or to conduct experiments.

Sramana Mitra: I have a question about what you just said about pre-seed. You are doing seed in the $1.5 million range which means somebody else is doing the pre-seed to get to that level of validation. What is your analysis of the pre-seed ecosystem right now? How much pre-seed work is going on? How much are bootstrapped entrepreneurs going into seed?

Anup Jain: The pre-seed ecosystem is absolutely vibrant. I would say there is so much activity over there. There are a lot of specializations that are coming in as well. There’s the rise of specific networks and platforms that are focused on gaming, crypto, education, or agriculture. It has been set up by people who have been associated with those spaces. They have brought on founders from different domains in a big way.

The quality of deal flow from some of these sources is excellent. We feel really good about that because we can rely on these specialists to have done some of that filtration as well as early mentoring. We can then focus on taking them to the next level.

Sramana Mitra: What is your estimate of how many startups are in the ecosystem right now?

Anup Jain: That would be hard to imagine. I would imagine there would be thousands. These are just those who we are able to see through various sources. I would say tier two and tier three cities are yet to see that explosion. Largely, the startup ecosystem has been concentrated between two cities. One is Delhi NCR. Also Bangalore.

Almost 80% of tech startups are based over here, which means a lot of talent migration has taken place. Founders have moved to either of these cities. We get to see some of that trickle down to Hyderabad or some other location. There are thousands at this point in time at the pre-seed level.

Sramana Mitra: I actually think that the number of people who are working on startups is more in the tens of thousands.

Anup Jain: That is true. It’s not a phenomenon that you see when someone gives up a corporate career after six or 10 years of work and then decides to jump in because they’ve got a nice financial cushion. People are taking it up straight away.

Sramana Mitra: A lot of bootstrapping with a paycheck going on right now.

Anup Jain: That could be happening as well.

This segment is part 2 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Anup Jain, Managing Partner of Orios Venture Partners
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