Pioneer of Venture Capitalism in India
Vani Kola is a popular Indian Venture Capitalist and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Kalaari Capital, a venture capital firm based in Bangalore, India. Kalaari Capital is India’s leading investor in early-stage businesses, who take care of the entrepreneurs under them throughout every aspect of growth and lead them to success.
Vani– The mother of Venture Capitalism
Vani Kola, also known as the mother of venture capitalism in India, is widely appreciated for guiding budding entrepreneurs and her focus is mainly on technology companies in India. Vani raised approximately $650 million and holds stakes in over 60 start-ups, including Flipkart Online Services Pvt. and Jasper Infotech Pvt’s Snapdeal. A few of her major investments are Myntra, VIA, Apps Daily, Zivame, Power2SME, Bluestone, and Urban Ladder.
Kalaari Capital
She collaborated with Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur Vinod Dham and Kuar Shiralagi, the former chief of Intel Capital India. They launched a $189 million fund backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). This venture was named NEA Indo-US Venture Partners. After successful functioning for 4 years, NEA decided to move out of this joint venture and enter the Indian market directly.
In 2011, Kola rebranded the firm and named it Kalaari capital. The name was derived from Kalaripyattu, a form of martial arts with origins in Kerala.After parting with Dham, she raised another $440 million, which made Kalaari capital as the second-largest firm in India by assets and the biggest run by a woman.
Vani’s achievement
Vani is an impeccable speaker who has delivered a number of motivational speeches at different entrepreneurial forums like TED Talks, TIE, and INK. Adding on to her endless list of achievements, she has also been mentioned as one of the most powerful and strong women in Indian Business Fortune India in 2018 and 2019. Vani was also awarded the Midas touch award for the best investor in 2015 which is one of her greatest achievements. She has also been recognized as one of the Most Powerful Women in Indian by Forbes in 2014 along with Linkedin’s Top Voices in 2016.
Vani and her company being the early age venture capitalists in India, have played a huge role in maturing the Entrepreneurs in India. They have successfully led the transition of the Indian market, to become the next most preferred destination for investments.
