Perspective

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Deep insights, inspiration, founder stories, and comprehensive reports.

SaaS from Scratch: Dheeraj Pandey of Nutanix and DevRev on Building Category-Defining SaaS from India

Nutanix co-founder Dheeraj Pandey joins Vani Kola to unpack how he built a $20 billion company by betting on distributed systems and what he'd do differently if he were starting today.

SaaS from Scratch: Founder Playbook | 2025 Edition

What separates category-defining SaaS companies from the rest? As Indian SaaS grows from $2B in 2018 to $17B in ARR now to become the world’s second-largest SaaS ecosystem, this question matters more than ever.

SaaS From Scratch: From Zero to Category: How Fareye Built a Market That Didn't Exist

Kushal Nahata built Fareye in a category no one had defined and had to convince buyers, investors, and an entire industry that a better way was possible. Here's the playbook for building something the market doesn't know it needs yet.

SaaS From Scratch: How Darwinbox's Rohit Chennamaneni Built an HR Tech Unicorn to Take On SAP and Workday from Hyderabad

Rohit Chennamaneni left McKinsey not with a grand plan, but with a frustration consulting advice never stuck, and a product could fix that. Nine years later, that frustration became Darwinbox, India's homegrown HR tech unicorn competing with SAP, Oracle, and Workday on their own turf.

Saas From Scratch: RateGain's Bhanu Chopra on TAM Expansion and Building Category-Defining SaaS

RateGain founder Bhanu Chopra joins Vani Kola to unpack how he built a $90 billion TAM travel tech company by entering a niche no investor would have bet on and expanding it into a category no one saw coming.

SaaS from Scratch: Saahil Goel on Building Shiprocket: 7 Years of Pivots, ₹10L to India's Largest E-Commerce Enablement Platform

Every founding story has a pivot. Saahil Goel had seven years of them and built India's largest e-commerce enablement platform on the other side.

SaaS from Scratch: Sashi Narahari of HighRadius on Bootstrapping, Enterprise SaaS, and Why He Raised Too Late

Sashi Narahari built HighRadius to a $3B valuation without taking outside capital for years, then admitted it was a mistake. This is what he'd do differently, and why.

Smart Glasses: Unlocking the Next Frontier in AR

Imagine it’s 2030. You’re driving around and spot a house for sale. With a single glance, you instantly know its listing price, property taxes, and can even see a virtual tour of the interior—without reaching for your phone or asking a single question.
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Why We Invested?

Clean Electric Raises $6 Million Series A

We are pleased to announce that our portfolio company, Clean Electric, has successfully raised $6 million in a Series A funding with participation from InfoEdge, pi Ventures, and Lok Capital, alongside our continued support.
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Consulting to Venture Capital – Finding My Place in the Indian Startup Ecosystem

This was the common refrain when I announced my decision to transition from McKinsey to venture capital. Looking back, that reaction wasn’t surprising.
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Consumer AI Rewind: Stories, Companions, and the Rise of AI That Feels Persona

A lot has been said about consumer AI this year. One thing feels clear: we have finally entered the era of native AI consumer apps that actually makes life meaningfully better, not just theoretically cooler
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PERSPECTIVE

Consumer AI Series: Companions and Us

That is over 20% of the world population, for perspective Covid 19 infected around 9%. In November of 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared loneliness a “global public health concern”.
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Convin Raises $6.5 Million Series A

We are excited to announce that Convin AI, has successfully raised a $6.5 million Series A round.
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Decoding Starting Up 2025

Starting up is hard. The road is filled with decisions, trade-offs, and challenges that test even the most resilient founders. This report distills key learnings from Kalaari Capital’s popular “Decoding Starting Up” series into one comprehensive resource.

Deconstruct Raises $8 Million Series A

We’re excited to share that our portfolio company, Deconstruct, has raised a $8 million Series A round co-led by V3 Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners with participation from L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund – BOLD and existing investors Kalaari Capital, Beenext.
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Digantara Raises $50M in Series B

We’re excited to share that our portfolio company, Digantara, has raised a $50 million Series B round.

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