E93: Chirag Gupta (Managing Partner, 8X Ventures)

The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Nov 02, 2022•1 hr 1 min

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Episode description

Chirag Gupta is the Managing Partner at 8X Ventures, a deeptech fund investing in India. Prior to 8X, he has held leadership positions at 500 Global, Careem (MENA's first unicorn acquired by Uber at $3.1bn), McKinsey, PwC/Strategy& and Korn Ferry. During these experiences, he helped 10+ corporations build their unique startup “explore” strategy, helped multiple startups grow to unicorn status, and partnered with governments of 8+ countries to grow their startup ecosystem.

Chirag holds an MBA from University of Chicago: Booth and Nanyang Business School, and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

Episode notes:

1. How does Chirag define deep tech (3:50)

2. Market being ready vs market being big (17:46)

3. Competitive nature of the deeptech landscape in India (26:44)

4. Why are Indian deep tech startups valued lower than their European and US counterparts? (33:22)

5. Is revenue still the most effective metric for evaluating deeptech startups? (37:50)

6. Will foreign investors price Indian investors out of the early and growth stages of deep technology, as has happened in other sectors? (42:25)

7. The benefits of down-rounds (46:00)

8. Deeptech sectors Chirag is bullish on (51:38)

9. Advice to deeptech founders in India (57:51)

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