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

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Chirag Gupta is the Managing Partner at 8X Ventures, a deeptech fund investing in India. At 8X, Chirag helps corporates and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) identify startups investment and integration opportunities, while helping both corporates and startups achieve their financial objectives.  

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)