When most of the companies in the Indian internet world were busy in attracting customers and spending money on advertisements, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, owner of Info Edge, the parent company of Naukri.com, was laying the foundation of big companies of the future. Sanjeev Bikhchandani has invested about ₹ 4,900 crore in 135 startups since 2007, whose value has today increased to about ₹ 41,300 crore. That means, they got a bumper profit of about 8.4 times on the money invested. This portfolio includes big listed companies like Zomato (Eternal) and Policybazaar (PB Fintech), which have completely changed the way we all eat, drink and buy insurance today.
The skill of placing a bet at the right place at the right time
In a letter to the shareholders of Info Edge, Sanjeev Bikhchandani has made it clear that he does not just run after the rate of return (IRR), but his main objective is to find such start-up companies which will become big examples in future. This strategy has been the most successful in the consumer technology sector that impacts the lives of common consumers. The company had invested ₹ 2,755 crore in 45 companies of this segment, whose value today has become ₹ 37,214 crore. When the value of Zomato was only ₹ 9.4 crore and the value of Policybazaar was ₹ 21 crore, then no one had thought that these companies would become a necessity in every household. Sanjeev Bikhchandani expressed confidence in them at that time and today both these companies have become big players in the stock market.
Bet on Artificial Intelligence five years ago
When the wave of modern technology like ChatGPT had not even started in the world, Info Edge started investing in AI and deeptech startups from the year 2020 itself. The company has invested more than ₹1,003 crore in 54 AI-native and deeptech companies in the last few years. Out of this, only Rs 614 crore was invested in 28 companies of AI sector, whose value has now increased to Rs 1,268 crore. Of these companies, 15 startups have succeeded in securing re-funding from global investors, which shows that Indian technology prowess is being appreciated across the world.
Getting direct benefits from government schemes
Info Edge’s deeptech portfolio is still new and full of risks, but its results are likely to change the future of Indian technology. The company has invested ₹ 455 crore in 30 companies of this sector, whose value has reached ₹ 559 crore. The special thing is that the startups of this portfolio are getting a big boost from the schemes like ‘IndiaAI Mission’ of the Government of India. Voice AI startup ‘Gnani.ai’ has received compute credits worth ₹177 crore from the government. Apart from this, under the country’s first Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme, ‘ePlane’ has received a government allocation of ₹285 crore and ‘Manastu Space’ has received a government allocation of ₹115 crore. At the same time, ‘Unbox Robotics’, which works on warehouse automation, has now become profitable.
Benefited from financial strength of Naukri.com
Info Edge has its own unique business model behind this great success. Continuous strong cash flow from the company’s core business ‘Naukri.com’ provides stability to this investment fund. According to Bikhchandani, his investment team does not have to waste time repeatedly raising money from outside like other venture capitalists, allowing them to focus entirely on identifying the right startups. Of the total investment, about ₹3,600 crore is from Info Edge, while ₹1,300 crore has been raised from external investors. Sanjeev Bikhchandani believes that India is now entering an era where big global technology companies will be created here, which will work not only for India but for the whole world.
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