Listen: Edtech, gaming, co-investments to define dealmaking in coming months: Anup Jain, Orios Venture

As startups weather the economic slowdown brought on by Covid-19, venture capital firms are fine-tuning their investment strategies to focus on sectors which will ride the digital wave for the next few months.

At Mumbai-based Orios Venture Partners, while the focus continues to be on consumer technology companies and brands, sectors including edtech, health tech and wellness brands, as well as local language entertainment, gaming and productivity apps will take centre stage in the coming months, says Anup Jain, managing partner, in the latest episode of the TechCircle #CapitalCall podcast series.

Orios Venture Partners was founded in 2013 by prolific angel investor Rehan Yar Khan. The early stage venture capital firm, which has backed unicorns such as ride-hailing app Ola and SaaS company Druva, is also in the process of raising Orios Select Fund I to invest in Series B-plus rounds in portfolio winners. 

The firm has already backed automobile servicing platform GoMechanic, drug delivery company Pharmeasy and dairy and essentials development company, Country Delight from the Select Fund which announced its first close in 2019.

“We have backed over 20 companies from our second fund and will be making follow-on investments over the next six to nine months,” Jain told TechCircle. 

The firm completed raising $75 million for its second fund in 2017.

While Orios continues to co-invest in companies with the likes of Matrix Partners and others, Jain added that the thesis on co-investment will increase given the current scenario.