Though the startup segment in India is at a nascent stage vis-à-vis developed countries, it is at an inflection point where India is expected to emerge into an 11,500 startups strong economy by 2020. With the large capenterprises running out of steam, it’s the first generation entrepreneurs who have been glimmering as the capital market show stealers for the last few years. This is just the beginning! In the next two decades,we will witness unknown names from now here stepping into the shoes of today’s business leaders. Consequently, the mindset of investors will change from cash burn(only volume focus) to cash earn (value earned focus) and concept approach, which will further boost the startup segment.

As the market in developing economies like India gets spoilt for choice, 2011founded Indus Strategy has built a niche space for itself in the MSME space by helping clients to reach out to right set of investors/lenders not just via advising, but also by handholding them to get that idea implemented – which is even more important.“It’s in our DNA to develop a connection with promoters and then own the business and responsibility to create the required solution by applying our domain expertise and leveraging our wide network for the growth of clients’ business with global perspective. Hence our clients are not third parties, but they are families to us,” remarks ManishChaturvedi, Founder & CEO, Indus Strategy.

In boutique investment banking space, you can hardly find an impeccable expert committee board comprised of well-networked illustrious veterans such as Manish (Investor, Deal Maker & former Fund Manager), Yogesh Chaddha (who has held leadership positions at HSBC and JP Morgan Chase),H D Khunteta (former CMD Rural Electrification Corporation) and Uday Dharmadhikari (former Country Head –Jones Lang LaSalle(JLL)PMC) to name a few.This bestows Indus with a competitive edge over other bankers in the segment, since it not only advise on numbers and/or finances, but become an integral part of client’s organization and help them grow by providing access to the network & expertise these people have built over the years.

The Uniqueness

In this competitive environment, why would any company approach such a young banker like Indus? The secret lies in its tailor made solution, the word about which spread like wildfire through its clients-turn-ambassadors. “We just don’t run with clients’ file to pillar and post for proposal they come with, rather we spend time with them on their business and find out what exactly needs to be done and then devise strategy to achieve the desired results,” explains Manish. To illustrate, if banks reject a debt-related proposal due to some external market scenario, Indus would take the promoters to its network of HNIs and family offices to structure a debt-like deal, which would initially comfort the lender/investor that their interest is safe and in later stage when the company performs well, converts into a safe return for the promoter, where he gets a larger pie.

The company has a strong mandate screening committee that filters the mandates rigorously and selectively works with companies whose businesses have real intrinsic value and whose promoters scale high on integrity, execution & patience, as opposed to other investment bankers who run for all decrees which come on their way.The company also avoids mandates where the deadlines are steep, unless Indus is absolutely sure that it can be accomplished quickly. No wonder, the company has been maintaining an extremely high success rate.It has been realised that startups do not just need money but they need go-to-market strategies and Indus has built niche in the segment by not just raising funds but also planning joint business development initiatives by leveraging corporate & government connects and creating tie ups with startup forums. Indus also co-invests in opportunities which its board approves thereby putting skin in the game.

In MSME segment, Indus channels the investors/lenders towards value and P&L driven business rather than euphoria or cash flow driven businesses and with the association of Indus as an advisor, MSME clients not only avails funding solutions but also avails the benefit of vast business network of Indus. On equity side, the company generally works on mandates where the requirement is $10-50 million and on debt side it works on transactions worth of Rs.50 crore plus. On very select basis Indus invests in companies if the proposal gets approved for investment by internal investment committee of Indus.

Insightful Offerings with Global Perspective

Raising Capital (both debt & Equity) and Mergers & Acquisitions being its core, Indus offers Corporate Finance with the blend of strategic advisory services, wherein it doesn’t stop with opening the doors for its client to reach out to investors/lenders, but also applies its domain skills to guide them on when to raise funds, which source to utilize, how to present themselves and so on. Its Investment Banking service helps listed clients to give exit to investors and bring in new investors in secondary markets, while enabling investors to churn out the portfolio – both in debt and equity.Started recently on request fromits set of HNI relations, Indus’ Wealth Management service caters to investment needs of its set of family office investors, across the asset classes.

The company renders insightful Business Advisory services that help established businesses to grow to next level and new organizations to setup business in various sectors like Real Estate, Infrastructure, Education, Renewable Energy, Agro, Food & Beverages and few other on case to case basis, thanks to its people’s profound domain experience. In fact, Manish has worked as an

Investment Director in real estate & education sectors, dealer & fund manager in Bonds Markets, has transaction experience in Infrastructure, Power, Manufacturing, Heavy Engineering & Ports sectors and has investment & transaction experience in Food & beverages & IT/SaaS/e-Commerce sectors. The company’s interactions with its associates at countries like Singapore and Hong Kong keep it updated on the latest financial solutions which facilitate it to provide innovative financing structures to clients.While dealing with international clients, it adheres to FEMA, ECB, FCNR, DTAA, Tax treaties and other regulations imposed by DIPPand RBI.

It’s in our DNA to develop a connection with promoters and then own the business and responsibility to create the required solution by applying our domain expertise and leveraging our wide network

We’re nearing a future where even MSMEs need to explore the bond markets that are currently dominated by a handful of large companies. Indus is geared up to monetize this opportunity utilizing its expertise on ushering midmarket companies to bond markets and taking benefits of listed NCD structures.“Besides financial consultation, we also invest in companies where board finds lucrative opportunities on strategic basis,” proclaims Manish.Its recent investments include Dodo foods – a home-style food delivery company solving the affordability,accessibility, quality issues that youngsters face,PCPS Group – one of Mathura’s leading education institution, and Digimkey – an app based edutech solution for school/colleges.

“Partnering with Indus has brought a totally different perspective to the vision for our group, their global network and relationship excited us to take Manish on the board and we are happy that in short time he has got us partnered with TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE-SVE,” says Nitish Bhardwaj, Chairman, PCPS group of Institutions. Our banking systems in coming times would be very stringent, thanks to the so called big ticket NPAs. Hence Indus intends to generate quality business for institutional lenders and its advisory approach towards clients would be an optimum &meticulously calculated leveraging proper diligence.

Steering Clients towards Success

As promoters tend to over-leverage by being over aggressive, Indus recommends them to never run on tread mill of cash flows and advises to focus on real value that can be generated by their business, because it strongly believes that financial future should not be the focus as it is a by-product of right business strategy implemented in right manner at right time.“Indus investment and participation in business strategies has radically improved our cash flow situation by implementing unique business strategies,”testimonies Mayank Gupta, Founder,Dodo Foods. Indus mitigates hurdles akin to corporate governance issues and brings the grey areas of proposals to light by meticulously screening the proposal before agreeing to accept & execute it, educating clients about the changing dynamics of financial market and through plugging time-related issues for short-term. “We educate clients thoroughly and move ahead only after the client agrees to our execution strategy,” adds Manish.

Leverages its domain expertise, vast network of relationships and deep understanding of the markets, Indus helps clients emerge above external challenges related to industrial cycles, government bureaucracy, intervention of regulators in some industry due to fewbad cases and global market’s influence on domestic markets.Besides conducting workshops at colleges, the company also updates its clients with market intelligence regarding various global practices coming to India, regulatory practices and market transactions on a monthly basis. Manish is also inviting his clients to an event that discusses reforms related issues this July.

Revolutionary Digital Marketplace

Indus is building a technology market place for Investment Bankers and Corporates(tremendously trickier than retail loan process), which would eliminate the information asymmetry in Investment Banking and revolutionize the communication and networking for business owners, advisors, investors and lenders, whiledigitising the investment & lending processes, and will reduce the business acquisition cost & time for lenders/investors. On equity side, this technology platform would enable PEs and VCs in India and overseas to see plentiful deals available across the countryand help them build a relationship with advisors sitting in tier-2 & tier-3 cities.

Synonymous with Integrity

Numerous factors like high profile scams, damaging practices of advisors with a short-term view and lack of strong investor protection environment has led to investor’s insecurity. Comprised of seasoned professionals, Indus adheres to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, and trains its employees to ensure zero leakage.“Trust/faith is a natural phenomena that cannot be forced on anyone, so the strategy should be to create the bond by adopting owners approach rather than managers approach to win trust, rather than asking for it,”responds Manish. Moreover, when Indus deals with SMEs, it conducts sanity check and educates them upfront on various integrity and governance related issues.

The company’s lean organization is comprised of various domain experts with functional expertise and a separate team of analysts who bring technical acumen.The experts further hone their skills by participating in various seminars conducted by Princeton Academy, Bombay Stock Exchange and School Of Investment Banking on a quarterly basis.Noting that most people working at Indus are Manish’s friends and ex-colleagues, the company has inculcated an open, informal and family-oriented culture where anyone can express their opinions freely.

Capitalised by the founders, Indus is growing at a CAGR of more than 50 percent annually since last three years and is expected to maintain the momentum for future years.Having a wide spectrum of clients ranging from publicly listed MNCs to MSMEs, the company has diverse revenue formats namely monthly advisory fee, one time retainer fee in some specific consulting assignments and success based fee in all fund raising and/or M&A assignments.

Indus has charted out a roadmap that includes launching a third party PE fund worth $35 to 50 million& a startup fund worth $10 million, acquiring a mid size Investment Banking company in India and strategically tying up with some foreign Investment Bankers. The company intends to focus more on M&A both inbound and outbound and on portfolio companies where investments are made, and create value for future unlocking of value.Given its current strong hold in the market, it’s only a matter of time that Indus Strategy will become the top most player in the industry.

Panel
Key Management:
Manish Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO

A Chartered Accountant, young visionary and a dynamic entrepreneur with 17+ years of experience in various capacities in Indian Capital Markets, Manish has an extensive transaction structuring expertise, analytical skill to assess the investment opportunities, and innovative ways of raising funds. He has extensively travelled and is a dynamic personality with deal making abilities.

Mentors: Yogesh Chadha, Uday Dharm adhikari, &H D Khunteta

Strategic Partners:Mithun Singh Tarkar, NitishBhardwaj, Kamal Pathak, Abhas Bhatt, &MayankGupta ,,

StrategicAssociates: Adv Shishir Praskash Srivastava, Lawyer Supereme Court,& Dr.Vikas Chaturvedi, assocham Chairman, Netherlands

Key Team Members: CA Kunwar Rizwan, Akhand Pratap Singh, Abhishek Gandhi & Ashish Chaturvedi

Offices: Mumbai(Headquarter),Delhi, Lucknow & Dubai and associate offices in Singapore, London, Amsterdam & Australia.