WaterBridge Ventures

✈️ India’s burgeoning middle class is reshaping the travel narrative. 💳 This comprises India's Prime TAM 1 (as we categorise it at WaterBridge): 23M urban households across India’s top 25 cities—globally exposed, upwardly mobile, and highly aspirational. With rising discretionary spending and an appetite for experiences, this TAM is traveling more than ever. 🌍 The Rise of price conscious Gen-Z Travellers Over 60% of Gen Z travelers who took three or more leisure trips last year belong to households earning less than $50K annually. These travellers are balancing affordability and indulgence, with a significant portion of their budgets going toward travel fares. To cater to this balance of affordability and indulgence, OTAs are launching flexible payment options—ticket price freezes, subscriptions, and BNPL plans. Yet, there are ever-evolving consumer needs which remain unfulfilled by the travel giants. 💡 Consider Travel Planning as one of those pitfalls: While TripAdvisor tells you what to do and Booking.com shows where to sleep, the ‘experience economy’ still wants to go after what is highly recommended (by their peers/ influencers). 🤔 Imagine this: Its 2 PM on a Wednesday and you scroll through social media: “XX is in Tokyo while YY is exploring Seminyak like a local" *takes Screenshot* Social media now plays one of the biggest roles in influencing our next travel plan. Habitual shifts (looking at you Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha) such as following travel influencers who geo-tagging their location on Instagram (2B+ MAUs) and ‘screen-shoting’ their “breakfast-lunch-dinner” recommendations, feeds into our experience-starved generation. In fact, 40% of Instagram users rely on it to pick their next destination. 🛑 However, more often than not, these screenshots get lost in photo libraries. Multiple other pain points continue to exist: better rescheduling options (without paying extra), relevant price drop alerts, a super admin view for tracking employee travel, carbon tracking with credit provisions etc. We are far from a winner in the market. In fact, users of the existing solutions have faced terrible experiences with visa-booking platforms, AI-travel planner’s do everything besides truly making an itinerary ‘personal’, and new-age OTA platforms struggle with building credibility amongst the giants. New-age founders looking to ship a global consumer TravelTech product will have to battle this complex category which suffers from high CACs (as seen with the larger OTA giants), lack of consumer loyalty, all while finding innovative ways to monetise. Moreover, demonstrating depth by targeting fewer cities before uber-izing it will be a key differentiator. While TravelTech is a competitive and a challenging category, the growing travel sector makes us bullish on a global player breaking out. If you are a founder building in this sector, please reach out to abhinav@waterbridge.vc Anjali | Ashish | Manish

Join me at sheshines Bangalore for the Strategy Tear Down! I'll be sharing the strategic decisions behind building CBREX alongside Achitha Jacob, CEO & Founder of Proactive For Her. Together, we'll dive deep into how we grew our businesses and the key lessons learned along the way. The session will be expertly moderated by Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures. 📅 Nov 28, 2024 | 4 PM - 7 PM 📍 WINK, Vivanta Bengaluru Residency Road This Founder & Investor Mixer is for women only. Seats are limited! Register here: https://lu.ma/dai0za1b *Attendance is subject to confirmation #sheshines #Winpe #Vivas #VivantaBengaluruResidencyRoad

80MN Indexed Audience. Yes, that's the staggering scale that Adster systems are able to maintain and handle, all in a privacy-compliant manner. These are users who have been touched by our systems in some capacity. Either as an incoming ad-request to serve ads (from our DSPs) or we requesting ads to be shown from global SPPs or DSPs. And in each of these scenarios, we respond within 200 ms. This is just a start and long-term data play for our publishers (and advertisers). For us to be able to process user-level insights, segment them real-time and make it available for targeting. #adster #adtech

Why are business conferences and panels so drab? Well, at least most of the time they are 🤔 Often, panelists 👺 are not relevant, lacking an opinionated point of view,  🤐 don’t invest in understanding the audience, and 💪 are unaware of the strengths of their co-panelists But when these fall into place, it works like an orchestra. The panel organised by Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) on "The Hot Indian startup - Is IPO the Holy Grail for you" felt like one, according to Manish Kheterpal It helped that IPO markets are on a tear in 🇮🇳, but also because the panelists were well prepared, were complimentary and the panel brought unique practitioners' experiences to the table. This group included a seasoned i-banker CEO for public markets in Sonia Dasgupta from JM Financial; a midas touch consumer, financial services growth investor in Sakshi Chopra from Peak XV; ace private to public spectrum Tech i-banker Karan Sharma from Avendus - all of whom have worked in the industry and with each other over several decades. Manish from WaterBridge Ventures moderated this discussion. A picture says a thousand words - this one shows how fun it was for everyone involved. Audience feedback tells us how insightful it was too. Key questions discussed: 🎠 How can a late-stage private market raise help the going public journey? 🃏 Why should companies stay private for longer (contrarian view given markets today) 💰 How much should VC/PEs sell pre-IPO, as part of OFS, or should they wait it out post-IPO? ✅ What are the traits /characteristics of founding teams and companies that go public and achieve post-IPO success in India? 🤼♂️ How long would the IPO party last for new-age companies in the most prolific IPO market of 2024 (25% of global happened here)? All this with real examples and anecdotes. It helped that the backdrop has new-age Tech market cap far exceeding $100B in India (just in the past 30 months). Great setup, thanks to IVCA, Amit Pandey, Yachna Luthra, Sunitha Prasad and the team for conceptualising this highly topical conference and for bringing the masters of the trade to the stage. Anjali Ashish

Monthly Spotlight: Eloelo records 5X growth in ARPPU in 5 months and doubles user base to cross 85M users; tops Entertainment chart WBV Portfolio Milestones and News: ⚡ Atlan recognised among the top metadata management tools by TechTarget 🥉 magicpin hits 150K daily orders for food delivery and logistics on Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) 📜 Adster files its first US patent application with USPTO  🏆 Fairdeal.Market crosses 10K orders within 4 months of inception 🚌 Priya on how Chalo is revolutionising bus travel in India, on Mint's Founder Diaries 🧗♂️ Prukalpa ⚡ on how engineering founders are driving innovation, at TechCrunch Disrupt  🛠 Chunky Shah on essential skillsets that CFOs need, on ET CFO Blueprint 🤺 Prateek Bansal sharing the stage with "Three Musketeers" at TiE Rajasthan 🗝 Vinayak Bhavnani on the importance of investing in enriched data sets, on ETCIO WBV Insights: 🍸 Manish Kheterpal featured on "Two GPs Walk Into A Bar" podcast with Oister Global  📺 Anjali Sosale moderates Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA)'s AltCap101 kickoff 🛡 Tejas Jain derisking India's SMEs from $15B in annual losses, with BimaKavach 🔔 Raj Nayan Datta as a speaker on CleverTap's webinar for startups Ashish

A few years ago, saying ‘recruitment’ and ‘AI’ in the same line would have seemed ridiculous. And yet, here we are! 😇 CBREX’s AI-RPO is completely transforming the way enterprises recruit. From 4 to 10 new joinees a month, we are seeing numbers of up to 85 - a 16X increase. Now, if that isn’t stunningly effective, we don’t know what is! 🎯💯 👉In part 1 of this series, we take you through the very meticulous process that is vendor mapping - a critical step in CBREX’s AI-powered RPO. Swipe>> to see how everything is water tight and designed to help make your recruitment process smooth and hiccup-free. 

Beyond Top 25: India's 400+ towns present a $200B consumer opportunity A Tale of Two Aspirations At 6 AM in Patna, Rohit starts his day checking the Eloelo app to video chat with his favourite astrologer before browsing cattle prices on Animall. With 30,000 rupees saved from deliveries, the 28-year-old plans to start a dairy business. Between rides, he scours YouTube and apps to learn everything about cattle farming. Seven hundred kilometres away in Jajpur, Mittali props her new phone while studying shop listings. The 10,000-rupee device represents her bridge from Bangalore's garment factories to owning a boutique. These aspirations reflect a powerful consumer trend: 28M households across 443 cities beyond India's top 25 metros command $207B in discretionary spending. While metropolitan areas show larger TAM, the real transformation is happening in smaller towns like Thalassery, Roorkee, Rohtak, and Jabalpur. By 2031, this segment will expand to 53M households, growing from $207B to half a trillion dollars. Meet the consumer class: Three defining archetypes This market, equivalent to the UK and France combined, is being revolutionized by digital infrastructure and 5G. UPI transactions here triple metros'. With 85% smartphone penetration, these consumers choose premium brands and embrace digital shopping. Consider Visakhapatnam - it will have as many consumers as a small European country, with entirely different behaviors. The self-employed SME owner In Amritsar's busy streets, Ravinder's store stands as a testament to two generations of family enterprise. Unlike his father's ledger books, he runs everything through smartphone apps. Earning ₹1 lakh monthly, he manages inventory and customer loyalty across 6-7 apps while planning two new stores in nearby towns. His greatest pride: watching his daughter attend English-medium school. The self-employed Household contributor Priya manages WhatsApp business groups and online orders in Guntur's spice markets, contributing ₹80K monthly. Like many urban Indian women today, she's part of a remarkable shift in financial power - in urban areas, women's deposit balances have grown 3% from 2019 to 2023 to exceed men's balances, while in metropolitan areas they've grown 10%. Behind these numbers lies a deeper story: while overall female labour participation rates appear low, they're rising significantly among women aged 25-35 and 35+, with more young women pursuing higher education before entering the workforce. These women have higher bank balances than men and are becoming key decision-makers beyond home. The Casual multi-tasker Amit juggles 8-10 apps for rides and deliveries in Indore, earning ₹45K monthly. Between gigs, he studies business management, dreaming of owning a logistics company. At WaterBridge Ventures, we see India's value-first market at an inflection point. If you're building in this space, reach out to baba@waterbridge.vc. https://bit.ly/valueindia Anjali | Ashish | Manish

AI seems to be the buzz word on everybody’s lips these days. So, quite naturally, the question that we had at CBREX was, “What can AI do for RPO?” As it turns out, quite a bit! With AI’s cutting edge tech, we have completely reinvented the traditional RPO. And we can guarantee you that this new and improved AI-RPO will transform the way you recruit. Check out all the efficiency and effectiveness boosts it provides at https://lnkd.in/eGpnbmqq  

We, at WaterBridge Ventures, are excited and proud to support Winpe sheshines as it heads to Bengaluru this month! For all the women founders and investment professionals in Bengaluru, this is your time to step into a room filled with opportunity!🚀 Gear up for meaningful exchanges, invaluable industry insights, and powerful connections. 📆 Nov 28, 2024 | 4 PM - 7 PM 📍 WINK, Vivanta Residency Road, Bengaluru We'll be there, and you? Register here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gtsp_xZP *𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘌/𝘝𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 #sheshines #Winpe #privateequity #venturecapital Anjali | Manish | Ashish

🌟 Milestone Moment for India's Start-up & Tech Ecosystem 🌟 Swiggy’s IPO marks a significant moment. While the well deserved celebrations are all over in social media, let's take a pause to also celebrate that the market-cap of VC-backed Indian Tech companies has crossed an impressive $100 Billion. This is fueled by new companies doing their IPO's and established ones enhancing operational performance. 📈 Notably, 9 companies went public just this year, adding $27 Billion to this market-cap. Today, 27 Indian Tech companies hold a combined market cap of $113 Billion - a figure that has nearly doubled since early 2024. While most are listed in India, MakeMyTrip and Freshworks are exceptions (on Nasdaq). For Indian start-up founders and VCs alike, this momentum underscores the resilience and scale potential of India’s Tech sector. It’s an encouraging sign, pushing us all to benchmark better, and aim higher. Cherry on top is that all the recent listings (2024 YTD) are trading above their listing price showcasing maturity of the ecosystem. More data, analysis on this in my next post. Here’s to audacious Indian founders driving value creation and paving the way for even greater milestones in the ecosystem 🚀 WaterBridge Ventures | Manish | Anjali | Ashish #IndianTech #IPO #VC #MarketCap #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #TechEcosystem