Catamaran has made investments across high-growth sectors including e-commerce, technology, financial services, consumer goods, healthcare and education
SpaceX, founded in 2002, is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, launching of advanced rockets and spacecraft. It also provides communication services via Starlink, a constellation of low-orbit satellites that provide internet services.
https://www.spacex.com/
Elon Musk
Growth Capital
A pioneer in spaceflight with the goal of reducing space transportation costs
Founder
"We want to open up space to humanity, and in order to do that, space must be affordable."
Port, a messaging app, represents a new class of communication tools that restore boundaries around who can access us and when. Port replaces permanent identifiers like numbers with impermanent virtual ports, allowing users to toggle access to themselves as they see fit.
Aniruddh Balasubramanian and Abhinav N
Venture Capital
A pioneer in numberless communication worldwide
Co-founders
"Due to the proliferation of mobile devices, phone numbers have become the convenient, de facto means of connecting for any purpose: a one-off delivery, a brief business query, a check-in with a friend. The value of these connections varies widely, though, so it feels incongruous that each receives the same permanent hook into our devices and lives – i.e., our phone number. Port solves for this by removing phone numbers from the process of connecting and communicating with others.” - Aniruddh Balasubramanian
Log9 is a leading cell innovation company based out of Bangalore. Log9 has developed Lithium-ion battery cells best suited for tropical climatic conditions like India. Log9 has established India’s first fully integrated Lithium cell making facility in Bangalore
www.log9materials.com
Akshay Singhal, Karthik Hajela, Pankaj Sharma
Venture Capital
India's first fully integrated lithium-ion cell maker
Founder
"Our cells are designed from the ground-up in India, for India; to suit Indian operating conditions, climate, and customers, and are hence going to play a crucial role in making India self-reliant while helping the nation realise its ambitious electric mobility vision" - Dr. Akshay Singhal
VerSe, a leading local-language tech platform, is the parent company of Dailyhunt and Josh. Dailyhunt is the largest content aggregator platform in India and operates in 15 languages. Josh is the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India, with 50+ mn creators.
https://www.dailyhunt.in, https://share.myjosh.in
Virendra Gupta and Umang Bedi
Growth Capital
Leading local language content discovery platform for the next billion users
Founders
“With a strategic focus on video content and building for India, we have seen explosive growth emerging from the next billion users coming out of regional India. This investment comes at a time when we’re on a path to further expand our offerings, monetisation models, deliver superlative Web 3.0 experiences for the globe and create an IPO-scale business.” -Virendra Gupta and Umang Bedi
Loco is using streaming to connect and strengthen India’s 400mn-strong gaming community, allowing top players and enthusiasts to engage through gameplay, chat, rewards, and more.
Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh
Venture Capital
Streaming platform connecting gamers with enthusiasts across India
Founders
“Pre-2019, hypercasual games dominated the charts, but post-2019 mobile arcade games like Battlegrounds IP and Freefire, came into their own. The demand for gaming content started to climb but there was no platform that brought streamers and viewers together. [W]e released Loco as an answer to that.” - Anirudh Pandita
Reddit is a network of communities focused on topics — or subreddits — such as news, sports, pop culture, etc. Users can engage with likeminded people on subreddits using links, text posts, images, or videos. Each post can be voted up or down by other members to help top content rise to the top.
https://www.reddit.com/
Steve Huffman, Aaron Swartz, Alexis Ohanian
Growth Capital
A social network designed with privacy and anonymity at the core
Founder
"Steve insisted we let users launch their own reddits within our network (we’d call them subreddits). Just like WordPress was a blogging platform for online publishing, reddit would be a platform for online communities. It didn’t seem important at the time, but Steve was absolutely right and it’s a damn good thing he won because that decision would ultimately drive reddit’s success where all of our then competitors failed. We combined this simple point system with the ability for anyone to create a forum for an online community to share and discuss links—from NFL fans (/r/NFL) to corgi lovers (/r/corgi)." - Alexis Ohanian
Udaan is a network-centric B2B trade platform, designed specifically for small & medium businesses in India. It brings traders, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, and brands in India onto a single platform. With real insights into active trends and great B2B trade features, Udaan brings to them the power of technology to scale & nurture their business.
Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar, and Vaibhav Gupta
Growth Capital
India's leading B2B Platform for businesses & shop-owners
NSE, incorporated in 1992, is the largest stock exchange in India. NSE is also the world’s largest derivative exchange by volume and 4th largest exchange in cash equities by volume. NSE has invested in technology and ensures reliability and performance through a culture of innovation.
https://www.nseindia.com/
Mr Vikram Limaye, Managing Director & CEO
Private Equity
We expect the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to benefit from the increasing investor interest and capital markets activity in India
Marcellus is a Mumbai-based, SEBI-registered portfolio management services (PMS) company founded in 2018 by investment professionals. Within two years of incorporation, Marcellus has become the 5th largest PMS in India.
Pramod Gubbi, Rakshit Ranjan, Manish Hemnani, Saurabh Mukherjea, Nitesh Bhadani, Ashvin Shetty, Sudhanshu Nahta, Salil Desai, Tej Shah
Venture Capital
Marcellus has the potential to become a globally reputed money management firm
Co-founder
“As our assets under management have ramped up at a rapid rate, Catamaran has helped Marcellus think through its growth strategy especially with regard to investments in technology, operations and business processes. We look forward to a long and fruitful association with the team at Catamaran.”
Udemy is the leading global marketplace for teaching and learning, connecting millions of students and professionals to the skills they need to succeed. Udemy instructors are passionate about sharing their knowledge and helping students. They are experts who stay active in their field in order to deliver the most up-to-date content.
Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar
Private Equity
Democratization of quality education at scale through a tech enabled platform is a large opportunity
Co-founder
Eren Bali got the idea for Udemy after growing up in a village in Turkey where he studied math by researching problems on the web. He and his co-founders bootstrapped Udemy’s US launch in 2010.
Founded in 2016, Acko is India’s first and fastest-growing digital-first insurance policy provider with its entire operations offered through the digital platform. The company uses a direct-to-consumer approach for distributing traditional products, allowing for favourable risk selection and superior underwriting. Acko uses technology to integrate with other new-age businesses to offer novel bite-sized products.
Varun Dua
Venture Capital
Powered by technology, Acko is a disruptor in the general insurance industry in India
Founder
"Starting an insurance company from scratch is a tall order - whether it is high upfront capital requirements or understanding the regulatory complexities. From day 1, Acko needed investors with a very very strong belief and high credibility to be able to set-up an insurance business. In Catamaran we found friends and mentors, not just investors. People who believed in the ambitious goals, that there existed a better way to build insurance and had the patience to appreciate the complexities of building a regulated business in India. At Acko we are glad to have them as our earliest backers - helping us focus on the fundamentals and giving us the confidence to stay the course."
Aon India Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd (formerly known as Anviti Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd) is an insurance and reinsurance insurance broker founded by Catamaran in 2016. In a short span of time, Anviti became one of the leading insurance brokers in India, serving 1,800+ clients and placing premiums of more than ₹3,500 Cr. Catamaran played an active role in the growth of Anviti including the recruitment of leadership professionals. The Catamaran team has enabled Anviti to rapidly scale to 300+ employees with offices at eight locations. The company was acquired by Aon in 2021.
Jon Pipe, CEO
Strategic Partnership
Aon India Insurance Brokers (fka Anviti) provides best in class risk management solutions to its corporate clients
CEO, Anviti
“Catamaran has been integral to Anviti's rapid scale since our inception. Their unwavering focus on governance, processes and systems has helped establish an excellent foundation for long term growth. With their support and constant encouragement to be best-in-class across all aspects of our business, Anviti has swiftly become one of the leading commercial insurance and reinsurance brokers in India.”
Prione was a strategic partnership between Catamaran and Amazon which equipped SMEs with training and tools to sell online. Prione assisted them in their e-commerce journey from photographing products and creating online catalogues, to managing digital sales and accounts. Cloudtail, a 100% subsidiary of Prione, was a leading online retailer that connected SMEs to customers seeking easy access to a wide variety of brands. Cloudtail employed 500+ people and sold over 1 million products across 25+ diverse categories working with 5,000+ brands
Strategic Partnership
Prione enables small and medium sized sellers to grow their business online
"Continuous support and guidance from Catamaran has been invaluable in the scale-up journey of Cloudtail. In my interactions, I always find Catamaran solution-oriented and collaborative. They hold us to very high governance standards and that helps us keep our organization fully protected. Catamaran has a strong network of their invested companies and other partners. They have facilitated connections in this network that has led to some good partnerships and lots of learning. Catamaran has played a strong role to support and scale Cloudtail, enabling thousands of SMEs in India. And of course, to top it all, we get access to learn from the direct guidance of a luminary like Mr. Narayana Murthy!" ᐧ
Hector Beverages, the owner of Paper Boat, is a pioneer in the ethnic beverage segment in India. Catamaran spotted the opportunity in 2010 when the founders of Hector Beverages articulated a simple yet powerful idea of preserving India’s wide array of ethnic flavours and recipes through innovative beverages.
http://www.paperboatdrinks.com/
Neeraj Kakkar & Neeraj Biyani
Venture Capital
Hector Beverages has the potential to become India's most trusted company for packaged beverages
Founder
"They say it takes a village to raise a child. Paper Boat was molded early on by Catamaran's guidance almost as much as it was by its co-founders. Catamaran has been to Paper Boat what the North Star is to those who sail—a guiding light that has helped us realize our core values and is always there through the ups and downs to keep us on course. On a personal note, my bond with Catamaran is most special, as NRN is the only reason I took to entrepreneurship in the first place."
Innoviti is India’s 2nd largest third-party payment processor at the merchant’s point of sale terminal. Innoviti’s payment infrastructure and payment and credit solutions helps merchants drive sales. Innoviti has rapidly scaled to processing ~$3.5bn of transactions yearly at retailers across 1,000+ cities and towns in India.
Rajeev Agrawal
Venture Capital
Innoviti is a key beneficiary of the transition from cash to digital payments
Founder
“Innoviti partnered with Catamaran while navigating a challenging phase in its evolution. Having been one of the pioneers in the payments ecosystem, Innoviti was contending with key structural challenges in the payments ecosystem and desired supportive patient growth capital along with scaling expertise. Catamaran has been an integral part of Innoviti’s rapid scale as the company experienced 8x revenue growth over the last five years.”
ACE Creative Learning was conceptualized as a holistic educational experience for students by Dr. Sridhar and his wife, Lalit Sridhar. The company works towards nurturing the success of every child by balancing academic rigour with a culture of caring across its chain of Deeksha schools.
https://www.deekshalearning.com/
Dr. Sridhar & Lalit Sridhar
Venture Capital
The founder's passion for teaching, depth of pedagogy and holistic approach to education is valuable
Co-founder
"It was not until Catamaran came along that Ace Creative Learning Pvt Ltd began its corporate avatar. Their investment and guidance have been instrumental in transforming a ₹6 Cr company into a ₹100 Cr diverse organisation. Today, if Ace has evolved into a professionally-managed company, we owe a lot to the representatives of Catamaran who, along with the rest of the investors, have always been a dependable sounding board to guide us to do the right thing at the time in the right manner."
Priority Vendor’s platform set out to create a new income stream for buyers and brands by providing them with discounts in exchange for paying their suppliers early. Priority Vendor grew to over 70 customers in India and expanded to Bangladesh, Dubai and Vietnam. It counted Jubilant Foods, TVS, Godrej Consumer, Apollo Tyres, Britannia, Dabur, Marico, Titan amongst its customers. In 2019, Priority Vendor was acquired by US-based fintech firm C2FO as part of their India growth strategy.
https://www.priorityvendor.com/
Kunal Agarwal
Venture Capital
Priority Vendor's approach to solve bill discounting was unique, technology-led and scalable
Founder
A graduate of Harvard College, Kunal's first entrepreneurial venture was Brattle Foods, a food logistics company started in 2009. When Brattle Foods was acquired by the Future Group in 2014, it was the second-largest player in the food logistics space. Thereafter, Kunal started Priority Vendor in 2014.
Drawing from its expertise and experience owning and managing several high class institutions, Manipal Global Education Services offers a host of tested and proven education services to enable universities and educational institutions across the world to focus on their core competencies.
Ranjan Pai
Private Equity
Manipal Education is a leading player in the private education space with a presence across geographies and segments
Threadsol was an enterprise SaaS company for the apparel industry. The software enabled cost savings in the apparel industry’s biggest cost line item – fabric – by enabling precise buying and cutting of fabric minimising wastage. Catamaran partnered with Threadsol in their Series A funding round in 2016.
Manasij Ganguli
Venture Capital
Threadsol's software solutions reduces fabric wastage and boosts profit of its clients in a large global addressable market
Founder
"Catamaran played a role in kneading and building Threadsol and helped scale the business to 13 countries. The founder friendly team of Catamaran was virtually an extension of the founding team and the empathy, help and support received from them was the catalyst in final acquisition by Coats".
