Funds managed
| Fund name | Asset Class | License |
| YourNest Angel Fund-I | Early stage VC | SEBI AIF Cat 1 |
| YourNest Indiac VC Fund-II | Early stage VC | SEBI AIF Cat 1 |
| YourNest India VC Fund-III | Early stage VC | SEBI Cat 1 |
About the VC Fund-II
- The fund is a SEBI registered category 1, AIF (IN/AIF1/16-17/0267) dated October 13, 2016.
- Fund Size planned at Rs. 300 crores.
- Investment or Commitment period is 24 months from the date of initial closing.
- Life of the fund is 7 years from the date of final closing.
- Initial drawdown is 15% of capital commitment.
- Management Fees – 2% per annum.
- Hurdle Rate – 12% per annum.
About Fund III
Focused on disruptive technologies to enhance the way mankind leverages the value of time, this US$ 75 mn fund will invest in startup founders across a spectrum of DeepTech domains: AI, IoT, Robotics, AR/VR/MR, Dev. Tools, Edge Cloud and other Digital products.
About
- YourNest Venture Capital, an early-stage venture fund founded in 2011.
Key staff
- Sunil K Goyal (Managing Director and Fund Manager)- Sunil K Goyal is the Managing Director of YourNest Venture Capital, an early-stage venture fund he co-founded in 2011, that manages YourNest Angel Fund-I and YourNest India VC Fund-II. One of the early angel investors and a former member of The Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels, Sunil has led seed-stage investments and guided companies to successful exits. Sunil believes in ‘conscious capitalism’ and relishes driving business that involve a high sense of purpose and vision. Startups gain from his experience in building businesses from the ground-up stage to leading transformation. He is a qualified CFA from ICFAI, a Cost Accountant from ICWAI and a Masters in Business Economics (MBE) from University of Delhi – South Campus.
- Sanjay Pande (Director and Fund Manager)- Sanjay, Co-founder of YourNest Venture Capital, has had a diverse industry experience with careers in Hotels, FMCG, Healthcare, Consulting, Sustainable Development, Strategic Consulting and Education. He turned to social entrepreneurship in 1998 and gravitated to Behavioural Training. Sanjay is an experienced executive coach and leadership trainer, having led interventions in over 150 organisations across multiple geographies and cultures, and been a startup mentor for almost 15 years. Sanjay is a management graduate from IIM Ahmedabad. An avid outdoorsman, he has been a first division football player, marathoner, gymnast and active trekker. He continues to be a mountaineer, is a trained rock climber, Yoga and Reiki practitioner and a holistic-healing enthusiast.
- Girish Shivani (Executive Director and Fund Manager)- Girish Shivani, Co-founder, has hands-on experience in fund management and equity research. His robust process centricity, analytical and decision support capabilities have made him a trusted advisor to his clients. Girish has experience in Telecom, Media, IT Consulting and Financial Services. He is an alumnus of St. Stephens’ College in Computer Science and MBA from IMT Ghaziabad. For Girish, speed and focus is of essence during the initial stages of a startup. His hobbies include cooking, astronomy and photography.
- Dr. Vivek Mansingh (General Partner)- Vivek has over 30 years’ global experience and is currently Chairman of Axiscades, a leading integrated engineering services company listed on the Indian Stock Exchange. He is an investor and mentor to a number of startups including EnCloudEn, Wolken Software, Arthayantra and Golflan and is an advisor to Jupiter Capital. Vivek holds six US patents, has published hundreds of articles and technical papers and has contributed to two books. In the past he has held leadership positions in: Cisco Systems – President – Collaboration & Communication Group (2010-2014); Dell India – R&D Head (2005-2010); Portal Software Inc. – VP & MD (2003-2005); Ishoni Networks – VP & MD (2001-2003); Aavid ATTI USA – Founder (1997-2000); Fujitsu USA – Director of Marketing & Sales (1991-1996) and Hewlett-Packard USA – Senior Scientist (1986-1990). Vivek is an alumnus of Stanford University (Executive Business Management Program); Queen’s University, Canada (Ph.D. Engineering Design); and National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, (BE – Awarded Gold Medal).
Investment Philosophy (for firm)
Each start-up idea, which reaches us, is studied thoroughly and rigorously. Meetings and calls are scheduled with the ones that have:
- Potential: Idea serves a significantly large addressable market.
- Proof of Concept: Crossed the incubation stage where the product/service concept has been proven.
- Customer Validation: Customers’ confirmation of the idea’s usefulness.
- Clear Roadmap: Ready with a Go-To-Market plan.
- Leadership: Entrepreneur demonstrates integrity, passion, courage, resilience
- Team: Complementary, balanced talent pool – a visionary, an execution champ, and a domain expert.
The start-up idea and the team, which interests us, is run through our evaluation matrix, comprising 73 parameters. At this stage we deploy a multi–tiered evaluation model. We consult our panel of mentors and the experts among our investors. Start-up proposals are referred to the investment committee based on our intuition and our ability to add value to the venture.
These parameters include:
- Value Proposition of the Offering: Differentiators, entry barriers and sustenance.
- Readiness for Go-To-Market: Existing customers and their feedback, sources of revenue, execution of strategy.
- Management Depth: Clarity of command, level of commitment (no hedging of bets).
- Business Model: Financial viability, funding requirement.
- Exit Prospect: Time and options for exit, expected exit valuation.
- Risks: PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological Legal and Environmental)
- Valuation: Pre-money valuation, comfort with investor protection rights.
Media
- YourNest strengthens leadership team with 3 new partners – 3rd June 2021
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=839766
YourNest has announced changes to its leadership team in preparation for the launch of its forthcoming YourNest Innovative Products VC Fund III. The venture capital firm said that Bengaluru-based Venkat Raju, Austin-based Ranjeet Shetye and Mohit Hira from Gurugram have joined as partners. The YourNest Innovative Products VC Fund III would be $75 million technology-focused fund which will invest in time-enhancing products developed by Indian startups for global markets. As venture partners, they replace Satish Mugulavalli, who has co-founded RuleZero, a technology platform that automates and manages equity ownership in venture-funded startups. YourNest is partnering with RuleZero as an investor and a board member, and Satish continues to be a mentor for its startups.
- YourNest Venture Capital launches fast-track funding program for startups – 1st May 2021
YourNest Venture Capital has launched a fast-track funding programme for early-stage startups in a post-covid world. The programme, SOAR, will invest between $250,000 and $1 mn in funding each startup that is selected, the company said in a statement. It will focus on tech-enabled startups, especially in the deep tech domain such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, distributed ledger technologies, cloud offerings, developer tools, enterprise SaaS, robotics and augmented reality/virtual reality/ mixed reality.
- Insights Into Deep Tech Investing | Deep Tech | Venture Capital | Ashu Agrawal | Girish Shivani
Yournest focusses on several domains within DeepTech which gives them access to a vast pipeline of techno-entrepreneurs and also visibility to rapid developments globally. These sub-domains within DeepTech and some overarching predictions:
Core Technology
- Edge Compute: Edge computing will become a dominant factor across virtually all industries and use-cases as the edge becomes empowered with more sophisticated and specialized computing resources and more data storage.
- Digital Twinning: Digital twinning of the organization, allowing businesses to visualize how functions, processes and key performance indicators interact to drive value.
- Human Augmentation: Human augmentation is the usage of technology to improve a person’s cognitive and physical experiences. It has been used by miners to better worker safety by exploiting information as well as by applications which boost learning or new experiences.
Title: Podcast: YourNest’s Sunil Goyal on tackling Covid-19, Source: VCcircle podcast, Date: 06 May 2020
Q1. YourNests response to the lockdown and Sunil’s personal advice to the portfolio companies.
Sunil says,
- Do not panic, safeguard efficiency.
- Conserving cash and generating cash from any resource possible.
- Reimagining, thinking fresh.
Q2. What kind of startups will lead their way post covid?
The ones who deliver value to the customers.
Q3. Thoughts on exits?
Exits have been pushed back and postponed for now but contracts are still being signed because they are the same companies, just a little delayed.
Sunil adds, due to global slowdown before covid itself they sat on cash and now luckily most of its portfolio companies have enough cash to sustain themselves for 12 to 24 months.
Title; In conversation with Girish Shivani, Director & Fund Manager, YourNest Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd, Source: Startup catalyst, Date: 25 June 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOEQBlJU5SM
Q1. What are you looking for in startups?
- Product has to be ready, there should be some revenue on the table and the revenue has to come from an innovative construct. Something replicated from US or other markets does not excite us even though it may be an opportunity in India.
- Construct of the team
- How big is the market?
Q2. To which aspects of the business should startups channel their funds first?
Equal mix of product development, team and go-to market. If skewed in one end, the entire business suffers hence a proper mix is important.
Title: Biz Talk with Dr. Vivek ManSingh, [General Partner, Yournest India VC Fund], Source: Youtube, Date: 12 January 2018
Dr. Vivek says being an entrepreneur try to expose yourself to sales, marketing, technology, finance so that you have a basket of skills ready.
He further advises entrepreneurs to not to go to VCs too early and only when you need money to scale up.
He adds, startups in India are less mature when compared to the west and need a mentor who can tell them what they don’t wanna hear. He equated the journey of a startup with climbing Mount. Everest. Oxygen is very limited and 9 out of 10 will fall back. He says, find a mentor who has been there and done that. A lot of mentors in India are teaching to swim without ever being in a pool themselves.
Title: ET Now Sunil Goyal of YourNest Angel Fund, Source: Youtube, Date: 07 April 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSYpgTevGkQ
Q1. What do you look at in a business plan?
It has to have deep customer insight. It is all about bringing the customer faster than anybody else. If somebody can demonstrate that, they know they have got the nerve of the customer and have reduced both the time and cost of acquiring the customer. The idea should be viable to build a sustainable business.
Advice: External funding must be taken at an inflection point.
Title: YourNest launches fast-track funding plan for early-stage startups, Date: 01 May 2020
https://yourstory.com/2020/05/yournest-fast-track-funding-plan-early-stage-startups
Amid the gloom, there’s some good news as YourNest Venture Capital has developed SOAR, a unique programme to identify and fund startups within just four weeks from the close of applications.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic along with the global macroeconomic uncertainty is tough and will last a long time, but we feel this is the right time to encourage committed entrepreneurs in India, who will create not just life-changing solutions but also employment opportunities.
Analyst questions
- Give us your perspective on the trends in the startup space.
- What do you think are the regulatory challenges in the VC industry?
- You (Sunil Goyal) said in one of the interviews that startups should not come to VCs too early. Would you say timing is the most important factor when it comes to funding?
- What kind of exit do you prefer for your portfolio companies?
- Where do you add value?
- In your investment philosophy you said we invest only in early stage companies that are companies having some revenue on their table and never just into an idea. Why is that so? And this seems to be the trend in the VC industry, where should entrepreneurs with great ideas having not so financially sound family and friends go?
Updated by – Khushi Shah, September 2021
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