100X.VC has doubled down on its bets on moonshot ideas. With the early-stage space getting cluttered, can it continue with its distinctive play?
Yagnesh Sanghrajka, cofounder, 100X.VC
Image: Mexy Xavier
When it comes to investment, Yagnesh Sanghrajka hunts for stickiness. “It has to have a unique value proposition,” reckons the co-founder and chief financial officer of 100X.VC, an early-stage investment fund. The venture capitalist outlines the distinctive style of deal-making done by 100X.VC, which was co-founded by Sanjay Mehta, Ninad Karpe, Shashank Randev, Vatsal Kanakiya and Sanghrajka in 2019. “Everybody must find the product sticky,” he says, dishing out the example of BuildNext.
Started by Gopikrishnan V and Finaz Naha in 2015, the Kochi-based tech-enabled home builder offers a battery of solutions ranging from visualisation, estimation, product selection, procurement, budget control and project tracking to consumers. BuildNext, Sanghrajka underlines, leads to a higher level of transparency, and brings down cost and time overshoots in construction of buildings. But for a fund which cuts a standard cheque of ₹1.25 crore for a 15 percent future equity in startups and also happens to be a first institutional investor, what was so sticky and compelling about BuildNext, which already had backers? “It’s Pidilite,” he smiles.
It was a pointed brief to 100X.VC. Pidilite, the makers of Fevicol brand of adhesive, was keen to pump in corporate venture fund into startups with innovative business model. BuildNext’s offering and segment in which it operated interestingly had a strong overlap with Pidilite. “We knew Pidilite’s products would make sense for these kinds of businesses,” says Sanghrajka, who did the initial round of screening, evaluation, preliminary talks with the startup founders to gauge their interest and then connected the interested parties. What followed next was a $3.5 million Pre-Series A investment by Pidilite in July this year.
100X.VC had more in store for Pidilite’s corporate venture capital. Kaarwan, a learning and upskilling platform for architects and designers, was spotted as another investment opportunity. Another venture to grab the attention of the VC fund was Finemake, an online platform to choose, customise and book designs for modular kitchens, wardrobes and TV units. The collaboration between a corporate biggie and a venture fund, underlines Sanghrajka, is a unique experiment in a country where traditional brick and mortar players have been increasing their exposure to tap into the innovative products and services of startups. In fact, Pidilite itself has had a bunch of such investments, which includes funding in HomeLane and Livspace.
(This story appears in the 18 November, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)