Rakesh Gupta, UK-based venture capitalist and Chairman of SayeNvest Group, on Tuesday said it has plans to set aside USD 1 billion fund for India, to be invested in the next 12-18 months.
SayeNvest Group is a British conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The group was founded and led by Rakeshh Gupta, chairman and chief executive officer, along with Sandhya Gupta as co-founder and co-chair. The group provides consulting and advisory services across sectors.
Talking to news agency on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Gupta said he looks forward to investing in mobility (which is largely the electric vehicles), besides other tech related investments.
"So anything which has got to do with tech, we would be happy to jump into and we would be happy to invest all across India," Rakesh Gupta said.In the same breath, he said he would eye investments in media, healthtech, edutech, medtech, among others."I've also personally invested in a few tech company in the US. We are now looking to India. We have shortlisted some eight projects in Bangalore, Bombay, Kokata."
Gupta was recently in India as a part of the British Trade and Investment delegation to invest in tech-related businesses.
"We have identified some opportunities and we are looking forward to invest there," he doubled down on his investment promises in India."The fund, the total fund size of a billion dollar would be available in 18 months maximum. But we look forward to starting up in next three to six months maximum," he said.Asked what kind of perception India is having on the global stage, he said it has changed very much and went on to back his argument.
"I'm not getting into politics side but what I'm looking is that what is the what is the message that global investor is looking is he's looking at two things one is the established leadership and one is the continuation of economic policies," he said, apparently referring to India's leadership.Also, he added that with the new US President and the bonhomie between both (Trump and Modi) is going to help both the countries.
"It is one of the reasons why we moved from our fund from Singapore to Gift City. Because Americans are now happy with the Gift City and what we are doing. So we look forward to seeing this fund growing and building a lot in India," he said.In a quick follow up, he was asked will aggressive tariff by the US restrict investment into India, he said yes up to a point, but noted the partnership between India and the US will limit the downside.
"Every country is now talking about country first, which is a good policy. You know, it is incidental that in India, when you say India first, everybody looks at you and says, all those political scum. But in the US, when you really see, when he has talked about US first, he's driving hard, the tariff is going to be the big. And honestly, be it India or US or China, trade balance is a must. So it will impact up to a point, but I believe the walk the talk between both the leaders are so good and that it would not impact largely," he argued.