Avataar completes 5 years

At Avataar, we are excited to kickstart 2025, energized by our outcomes of the past 12 months, partnering with companies at their inflection point for scale. We completed 5 years in 2024, and these fabulous years have gone by in a flash. 

A lot has happened in these years: 

• We grew to a team of 20-plus members.
• We expanded our investment thesis from SaaS to include India-focused B2B / B2B2C companies. It is now a dual strategy of global tech companies and B2B2C India growth companies.
•  We raised two funds and a continuation vehicle.
• We had our first SaaS portfolio IPO (RateGain) with another 2 SaaS companies going public in 2025.

Avataar’s turbo-engine that drives predictable and superior exits is our Operating team. We have three Operating Partners and a team of four additional senior members to power this engine. 

This team is now complemented by a network of Avataar Champions globally, who are currently CXOs in large corporations. They advise our portfolio companies and help them win large customers. 

Looking at 2025 and beyond, we see AI as a big disruptor, which will throw more investment opportunities. 

While AI is disrupting software industries like BPOs, IT Services, and SaaS, it's also disrupting the physical world – Robotics and Industrial Automation are being re-imagined with AI. The investment and valuation models are getting disrupted with new outcome-based pricing, larger cheque sizes to create moats, lower gross margins due to computing costs, and higher costs of data security.

We invested in three AI companies in software (Interface.ai, LambdaTest, CredCore) and another two in physical world AI (to be disclosed soon). We expect this trend to accelerate as AI permeates every industry. 

Our specific AI focus will be 

• DevTools 
• AI-driven analytics and personalization
• Healthcare 
• Industrial Automation & Robotics
• Financial services

We are also doubling down on our India B2B2C companies having invested in Insurance Dekho, Finnova, and Chalo. Our strategy here is to focus on high-growth capital efficient business.

Our team is growing 

We welcome our new team members who joined us in 2024.

Operating Team: 

• Krish Kupathil leads GTM strategy and corporate development in the US for Avataar portfolio companies. He has a strong track record for building global enterprise businesses and is an active investor & mentor to early-stage startups.
• Mike Mulica works closely with portfolio companies on Strategy, Corporate Development, GTM & M&A. He has vast experience as Global CEO and Executive at numerous public & private technology companies. 
• Maxence Cacheux has joined us to lead European GTM based out of Paris. He has deep networks across Enterprise CXOs in Europe, and proven business development expertise with Fortune 100 companies. 

Advisors: 

• Sridhar Solur is an expert in Robotics and has led Kenmore as CEO based out of Boston. His experience spans across IoT and AI-based Industrial Automation.  
• Saurabh Chandra is a Domain Expert in E-Commerce, Retail, and BFSI sectors having been the Managing Director at BCG & EY. 

Team members: 

• Ashutosh Gupta has joined as Head GTM. He has about two decades of experience working with some dynamic companies, including Infosys, Cognizant, Google, and LinkedIn. 
• Krushi Jain has joined as an Investment Associate. She has 9+ years of experience in organizations, including KPMG and Spark Capital. 
• Gulshan Dhanani has joined as an Investment Associate. He has 9+ years of experience in organizations, including Citibank, Deloitte, and Yellow.ai. 
• Surya Soni has joined as Manager, Portfolio Finance. He has 8+ years of experience in organizations, including CarDekho and WNS.

Here’s to a phenomenal 2025 and limitless possibilities ahead.

‍