Early-stage investor Venture Catalysts looks at investing in chip, space-tech, AI start-ups

Venture Catalysts focuses on semiconductor, defence, space, manufacturing automation, AI, and sustainability for future investments in start-ups.

Start-ups working in the areas of semiconductor, defence, space technology, manufacturing automation, AI are expected to generate interest among private equity investors as their future area of investment.

“Now, in the future, my focus will be semiconductor, defence, space, manufacturing automation. Then AI and there are other green sectors now,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and MD, Venture Catalysts, an early-stage investor in start-ups.

He said the firm has a portfolio of more than 400 entities with cumulative valuation of close to $12 billion.

“Something [from these sectors] keeps coming. I don’t want to talk about that. But these are new sectors which I will be touching,” he said.

Ideas relating to sustainability will also figure in firm’s future area of investment.

“The biggest project today is save the planet, and for saving the planet, you have to change to EV or get into alternative fuels. There is no other way,” he said.

Answering a question on how loss-making starts-ups are still able to command a premium in the Indian capital markets as compared to established profit-making companies, he said like in the U.S. market, start-ups in India will find better valuation than traditional companies due their future potentials and ability to rapidly scale up.