1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Rahul Chandra of Unitary Helion Ventures (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Rahul Chandra was recorded on July 2019.

Rahul Chandra, Managing Director at Unitary Helion Ventures, provides an excellent overview of the opportunity around India’s next 400 million consumers.

Sramana Mitra: Tell us about yourself and about Unitary Helion. What are you investing in? What is the investment thesis?

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 5)

Deepen Parikh: We want to plan the infrastructure side. Obviously, 4G in India and the infrastructure that Jio has created is a game changer for a lot of content that is being consumed.

Similarly if you look at something like China, the market is big enough to have direct deals with some of the major sports leagues. Every country, at the end of the day, comes down to the same thing. How do you engage the community aspect? How do you create engagement?

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Your talk of the drone racing league reminds me of Harry Potter and the Quidditch game.

Deepen Parikh: That’s right. I would recommend watching it because it actually does.

Sramana Mitra: Is there anything else that you want to add to enlighten us about your sector?

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Beam is also a subscription business model?

Deepen Parikh: It wasn’t; it was ad-supported. It was very early. It’s different from The Athletic, which was more of subscription model and more consistent revenue where you can see the growth over time. This was a pure-play on technology interactivity, but more importantly, it’s just massive validation from the small community.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: I have a few questions. As you correctly laid out, a lot of the sports ventures are essentially media and entertainment ventures. It’s basically performance media that monetizes. What is the product for this company that people are subscribing to?

Deepen Parikh: It’s written content. As a sports fan of a team, you’re paying for in-depth access to content. It may not appeal to every single sports fan out there, but it appeals very heavily to anyone who is a hardcore fan.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: How big is Courtside Ventures?

Deepen Parikh: Our first fund is $35 million. We were scrambling non-stop. It was just me and my partner. Our job is to find the best entrepreneurs, companies, and ideas across our main verticals. As a first-time fund, it was about building relationships with other VCs, sports leagues, and founders.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Deepen Parikh of Courtside Ventures (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Deepen Parikh was recorded in May 2019.

Deepen Parikh is Partner at Courtside Ventures, a firm focused on investing in sports-related ventures. He provides a fascinating window into a little-discussed sector.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by having you introduce yourself and Courtside Ventures to our audience.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Alain le Loux of Cottonwood Technology Fund (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Give me some examples of the kind of medical companies that you have invested in.

Alain le Loux: I’ve invested in two companies. They are doing great, but it takes a lot of time. For one of them, we are already eight years in.

Sramana Mitra: What do they do?