Naukri.com-parent Info Edge, whose long-term bets on Indian startups ranging from Zomato to Policybazaar yielded blockbuster returns, has been named the country’s most successful venture investor, cementing its reputation as a standout player in India’s startup ecosystem.
IMAGE: InfoEdge Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff
The firm, helmed by Sanjeev Bikhchandani – often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett- invested a total capital of Rs 3,959.16 crore across platforms over the last one and a half decades.
The fair market value (FMV) of these investments is several times that amount.
In a report, Economic Times puts Info Edge as the country’s most successful venture investor.
Its investments in Zomato and Policybazaar between 2011 and 2015 are currently worth around Rs 53,000 crore.
Bikchandani’s chance encounter with the internet at a Delhi trade fair 28 years ago not only sparked the creation of job portal Naukri.com but also marked the beginning of his journey as a serial investor.
Investment in Zomato (12.40 per cent in Eternal – the listed entity name of the food delivery firm) and Policybazaar (19.63 per cent) proved to be as providential as IPOs of both firms went on to become big winners.
In the process, they made Info Edge, the country’s most successful venture investor and the biggest beneficiary of the startup listing.
In his annual letter to shareholders at the end of FY25, Info Edge founder and vice chairman Bikhchandani had recently stated that the firm, which has since started financial investing activity in 2007, achieved an estimated 36 per cent gross IRR across all vintages put together.
Info Edge was one of the early backers of homegrown listed companies, including Zomato and Policybazaar.
It invested a total of Rs 483.78 crore and Rs 591.40 crore in the two companies, respectively.
The value of its shareholding in Eternal (Zomato) is worth about Rs 38,350 crore, and that in Policybazaar is worth Rs 15,133 crore.
Zomato and Policybazaar’s combined market capitalisation stands at more than Rs 3.8 lakh crore.
After these, Info Edge invested in many startups, including men’s grooming brand Ustra, B2B ecommerce platform Shopkirana, edtech platform Adda247, omni-channel inter-city bus travel platform Zingbus, travel tech platform ixigo, among others.
To date, it has backed 111 companies.
Bikhchandani founded Info Edge, one of India’s oldest internet-based companies, in 1995.
It operates across sectors, such as recruitment (Naukri), real estate (99acres), matrimony (Jeevansathi) and education (Shiksha).
Info Edge’s journey as a financial investor has played out over four distinct phases, beginning with its earliest bets between 2007 and 2012 – a period that laid the foundation for two of its biggest wins.
“The first phase was from 2007 to 2012. Zomato and Policybazaar have been breakout successes of this period from over half a dozen investee companies,” he had said in the letter.
“The second phase was from 2012 to 2015. We treaded cautiously in this period as the winners from Phase 1 were yet to emerge.”
The third phase was from 2016 to 2019, once it had become clear that Zomato and Policybazaar would be winners.
“Companies that we invested in during this period include Adda247 and Shipsy, among others.
“These are all companies at varying stages of maturity, but we remain optimistic that some of these will emerge as multi-baggers for us,” he had said.
Several of these companies have gone on to raise investments at higher valuations from reputed investors like Westbridge Capital, Google, Peak XV Partners, A91 Partners, etc.
Most of these emerging winners are well capitalised with years of runway to execute and hopefully list on the public markets.
“The fourth phase of our early-stage investing journey began in 2019 when we decided to set up a venture capital fund, namely Info Edge Venture Fund (IEVF), in the form of a SEBI-registered AIF vehicle.
“We have since invested through three different funds (i.e., IEVF, Info Edge Capital and Capital 2B) across four schemes,” he had said.
