Meet the Investment Guru for Over 3,000 Companies Today, with over 60 investments and 140 million dollars invested across the country, NEA under the leadership of Bala Deshpande is looking for impactful investments
By Punita Sabharwal •
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Despite having a humongous experience of 17 years in the investment industry, Bala Deshpande, remains humble to express, "Meeting diverse entrepreneurs is the best part of my journey, as they made it meaningful." Having being an investment guru for over 3,000 companies across sectors and stages, she shares "One thing that is common to all entrepreneurs is fretting over valuation,"
She explains how she anchors the transformation of various industries which is now majorly driven by technology. "The markets are transforming. With the emergence of new ideas and entrepreneurs, there is a shift of focus from traditional to trendy sectors," she says. Speaking about her initial years, she remembers, it was a bit of mid market. "But today, I know most of the opportunities for investment in traditional sectors of India whether it is textile or retail," shares she.
According to her, healthcare and retail sector in India are witnessing disruption with path breaking innovations. Today, the conventional healthcare industry is flexible towards partnering with startups. On the other hand, enterprise sector has seen quick transformation from what it was in 2000. "This was an essentially data base and security driven industry but with innovations like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Machine Learning we have more advanced platforms," reveals Deshpande. While, investing in one such firm, Deshpande says "Just because a sector is trending doesn't mean I will invest in it." When asked about her memorable investment, she says that every sector is distinctive from each other, therefore, choosing from them is a tough job.
Today, with over 60 investments and 140 million dollars invested across the country, NEA is looking for impactful investments.
(This article was first published in the March issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)
