Piyush Kharbanda: Vertex Ventures SE Asia and India eyes first crypto bet in India

INDIA, 22 March 2022 - Our general partner Piyush Kharbanda shared at an interview with VCCircle:

"Most investors including us believe that crypto is becoming global very fast and is going to be disruptive in more ways than it is obvious now."

"We haven't done anything yet in India but we are actively looking."

But he shares that Vertex Ventures SEA’s number one focus is still SaaS and cloud. The firm will push the pedal on investments in the space while they are also actively evaluating a bunch of opportunities in fintech.

"Lending is the largest opportunity in fintech but there are new avenues that are opening up like insurance," he added.

“Vertex Ventures SEA is pretty bullish on the agri space and is also actively looking at unlocking investment opportunities in B2B supply chains.”

“We are particularly interested in looking at (companies engaged in) the export segment," he added. He also said "never say never" on investment in the electric vehicles (EV) space.

Vertex Ventures SEA is also actively looking at a few exits this year "as returning cash returns is super important" but that does not preclude the venture capital firm from being long-term investors, he explained.

In term of themes, we will continue to focus on its three core areas ― software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech and consumer/consumer internet and a few other themes based on macro conditions.

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