Saama-Capital 2.46

Saama Capital – India focused investor and mentor of Indian start-ups’ growth
Saama Capital is an early stage venture capital fund investing in the growth of the Indian economy with 40 plus investments since 2006.Its advisor Saama Capital India Advisors is based in Bengaluru.
Its depth of knowledge and experience in the Indian venture ecosystem and its global network has helped build an extensive investor-entrepreneur-service provider community.
As they seek to build great companies, team Saama, which has the knack to pick companies with potential has the necessary backing and provides guidance and support. The investment firm helps with operational, financing and strategic matters that helps grow portfolio companies within India as well as those focused on selling to global markets as Saama Capital has a strong network within the US entrepreneurial and venture capital ecosystem for many years.
The Saama Capital team previously worked together at Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group where they invested SVB India Capital Partners fund in 2006 rebranding to Saama Capital after it became an independent firm in 2012.
Saama Capital is sector agnostic and looks for opportunities across a broad range of tech and nontech sectors. As an active investor in the Indian capital venture market since 2006, Saama has backed market-leading firms such as Snapdeal, Naaptol, PayTM, MoveInSync, Bluestone, Hotelogix, Applabs, Prizm Payments, Chaipoint, Vistaar Financial, Tutor Vista, Sula Vineyards, SCIO Health Analytics. Veeba Foods and EazyDiner.
Saama Capital funds companies in early and growth stage and occasionally at seed stage with a target first investment of US $ 1-3 million and participates in future rounds as needed. While the company has placed a number of investments along with other investment partners, Saama is also open to investing alone if the company size matches the advisor’s investment size.
Among its potential investors, the Saama team looks for strong and passionate management team, high growth opportunity in the marketplace, capital efficient and scalable business model, an executable future plan and an Indian market focus. For seed investments, Saama looks for customer validation and early revenue.
The Saama co-founders:
Ash Lilani is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Saama Capital. Ash has been an early pioneer and was a leader in helping build the venture ecosystem in India. He has been investing in the Indian venture capital ecosystem since 2003 and has been working with technology and venture capital across the globe for 25 years now.
At Saama Capital, he has led investments in Snapdeal, PayTM, Lendingkart, Chaipoint, Veeba Foods, EazyDiner, Sula Wines, Modern Family Doctor and others which have impacted the VC ecosystem.
Prior to Saama, Ash served as President, Silicon Valley Bank’s India and China markets and founded and headed SVB Global, setting the strategy and overseeing development and operation of international subsidiaries in London, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai.
Earlier, as SVB’s senior vice president, Ash was responsible for commercial banking activity in Silicon Valley and the leadership team worked closely with leading venture capital and technology companies in the area.
While he continues to be an advisor to SVB, he is also an independent board member of Innoven Capital, a Temasek backed company focused on venture debt in India. This apart, he mentors several entrepreneurs and young companies both in Silicon Valley and in India.
Ash Lilani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from Bangalore University and has an MBA degree from Philadelphia University.
Suresh Shanmugham is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Saama Capital. Earlier, Suresh was Managing Director of SICP and senior VP, SVB Global. Prior to joining SVB, he was a founding Partner of Boston Millennia Partners, an early stage venture capital firm.
He has invested in a number of technology companies such as Tropos Networks, Tutorvista/Pearson, Shriram EPC and represents Saama Capital on the boards of Naaptol, iYogi, Ideacts Innovations, Geodesic Techniques and Bluestone.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Both the co-founders are charter members of TiE.
www.saamacapital.vc