Prashanth Prakash: Master mentor

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Also read | Invest in new ideas, not flavour of the season, says Accel's Prashanth Prakash This is the kind of big picture thinking that has made Prashanth one of the top venture capitalists and investors in the country — someone who continues to shape the startup ecosystem in India, which he has had a ringside view to over the span of two decades and more. At the moment, Prashanth focuses on companies in the consumer Internet services, online marketplaces and SaaS space and has led investments in startups like BlueStone, BookMyShow, FabHotels, QwikCilver, Rentomojo and TeaBox, but he will perhaps always be best remembered as the person who, along with co-founder Subrata Mitra, bet on Flipkart back when e-commerce was but a glimmer in Indian founders’ eyes.

Accel India is one of the top venture capital funds in India and globally; in 2022, it announced its seventh India fund worth $650 million (around ₹5,400 crore) for the Indian and South-East Asian markets, with a focus on early-stage investments in internet companies, besides holding separate funds for growing and late-stage companies. Its India portfolio is currently valued at over $100 billion.

No wonder it’s tough to catch Prashanth. “I have a portfolio of 15-18 companies that I actively manage across Southeast Asia and India.

Many of my companies are in different cities. I like meeting my founders and entrepreneurs in person and attend board meetings in person, which creates a lot of travel," he says ruefully.