Forbes India - Tech Conversations
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FILA 2025: Co-founders of Bugworks on their quest for a novel AMR antibiotic
In this episode, recorded on January 2, Anand Anandkumar, V Balasubramanian and Santanu Datta, co-founders of Bugworks Research, give us a quick update on their quest for a novel antibiotic to tackle the problem of anti-microbial resistance. The trio, winners of the Forbes India Leadership Award 2025 under the Emerging Innovators category — alongside their Chief Scientist P Shahul Hameed — are also taking a 'platform approach' to develop a small molecule that they hope will fight some types of cancer
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Khadim Batti and Alok Goyal on Whatfix's roadmap to IPO in two years
In this episode, Alok Goyal, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, and Khadim Batti, co-founder and CEO of Whatfix, a digital adoption platform provider, talk about their partnership from a VC who was skeptical about the venture to his fastest term sheet, to product market fit to $100 million in annual recurring revenue on the horizon. They talk about lessons from this experience and how the playbook has evolved for Indian SaaS companies selling enterprise software in the world's biggest tech markets.
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Khadim Batti and Alok Goyal on Whatfix's roadmap to IPO in two years
In this episode, Alok Goyal, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, and Khadim Batti, co-founder and CEO of Whatfix, a digital adoption platform provider, talk about their partnership from a VC who was skeptical about the venture to his fastest term sheet, to product market fit to $100 million in annual recurring revenue on the horizon. They talk about lessons from this experience and how the playbook has evolved for Indian SaaS companies selling enterprise software in the world's biggest tech markets
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Accel's Anand Daniel and Prayank Swaroop on the next decade of Indian startups
In this episode, Anand Daniel and Prayank Swaroop, partners at Accel, talk about the venture capital firm's views on the next decade of Indian startups. Accel recently announced its eighth India-focused fund, at $650 million. In this conversation, Anand and Prayank also talk about how both startup founders and venture capitalists in India are evolving, and new generations come to the fore, bringing more original ideas to the market and more technical and business knowhow to their endeavours
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Accel's Anand Daniel and Prayank Swaroop on the next decade of Indian startups
In this episode, Anand Daniel and Prayank Swaroop, partners at Accel, talk about the venture capital firm's views on the next decade of Indian startups. Accel recently announced its eighth India-focused fund, at $650 million. In this conversation, Anand and Prayank also talk about how both startup founders and venture capitalists in India are evolving, and new generations come to the fore, bringing more original ideas to the market and more technical and business knowhow to their endeavours
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Why these VCs at Ankur Capital hope to see deep tech playbooks in India in 2025
In this episode, Vishal Katariya and Suraj Nair, AVPs at Ankur Capital, an early-stage VC firm in Mumbai, talk about the need for playbooks for different segments within the growing deep tech startup ecosystem in India. Katariya and Nair, who're both part of the investment team at Ankur, known for its investments in agritech, biotech, and health care startups, among others, hope for greater industry involvement in 2025 in supporting deep tech startups in India. They also talk about what they'd like to see in the budget next month
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Founder's mode: What Aneesh Reddy at Capillary Technologies looks for in a CEO
In this episode, Aneesh Reddy, founder and CEO of Capillary Technologies, a well-known SaaS company in Bengaluru, talks about his experiments in leadership. As part of Forbes India's recent issue on Founder's Mode, this interview was recorded on November 22. In this conversation, Reddy talks about what he learnt from bringing in a professional chief executive, how execution holds the key to long-term success of a venture and what traits he looks for himself as an angel investor in a large number of startups
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Climate resilient water conservation: Lessons for India from a project in Bengaluru
In this episode, recorded on November 19, Avinash Krishnamurthy, co-founder of Biome Environmental Trust, a sustainable development think tank and consultancy, and Vikas Brahmavar and Gowthaman Desingh, co-founders of Boson Whitewater, a water treatment venture backed by investors such as Rainmatter, talk about a landmark collaboration to return potable-quality treated wastewater to communities in Devanahalli town, on the outskirts of Bengaluru city. They also talk about how this project can be a model with lessons relevant across India
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Microsoft's Christopher Young on how the company's AI platform strategy is evolving
In this episode, recorded on November 21, Christopher Young, EVP of business development, strategy, and ventures at Microsoft, talks about how AI is evolving from generating responses to actually fulfilling various tasks on behalf of human users. Young gives us a quick overview of how Microsoft aims to become a platform, underpinning AI innovation and adoption in markets around the world, including India. He expects that some AI innovation, in healthcare, for example, will start first in India, to be adopted in other parts of the world
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Microsoft's Christopher Young on how the company's AI platform strategy is evolving
In this episode, recorded on November 21, Christopher Young, EVP of business development, strategy, and ventures at Microsoft, talks about how AI is evolving from generating responses to actually fulfilling various tasks on behalf of human users. Young gives us a quick overview of how Microsoft aims to become a platform, underpinning AI innovation and adoption in markets around the world, including India. He expects that some AI innovation, in healthcare, for example, will start first in India, to be adopted in other parts of the world
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Leena Walavalkar on TCS Pace Ports and the future of the company's innovation efforts
In this episode, Leena Walavalkar, Global Head of TCS PACE, talks about the IT giant's innovation network comprising centres around the world called Pace Ports, where teams of multidisciplinary experts from TCS brainstorm and collaborate with customers on cutting edge solutions. In this conversation, Leena gives us a peek into how TCS is using its experience in a variety of areas to go from assisting and augmenting its customers' tech operations to innovating solutions that could potentially transform those businesses for the better