E121: Rajat Tandon (President, IVCA)

The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Rajat Tandon is the President of IVCA, India's apex body representing the interests of PE/VC industry, Real estate, Infrastructure and Credit funds, Limited Partners, Family offices & Corporate VC's. Rajat leads the planning, development, and implementing IVCA’s regulatory advocacy activities, while also effectively influencing regulatory outcomes in support of the alternate asset class.

Previously, Rajat was part of the leadership team at NASSCOM, where he headed NASSCOM’s 10,000 Startups initiative, providing crucial support to technology startups in India.

With his early stint as entrepreneur and extensive corporate experience in the IT & Telecom and GIS/Navigable maps, Rajat competently bridges the gap between boardroom expertise and on-the-ground experience. Over the past 25+ years, he has worked in various positions ranging from technical support, sales leadership, service delivery to strategic initiatives at Siemens, Nortel, and Nokia.

Rajat also brings with him his extensive network in the startups space, having worked closely with most of the eminent industry leaders. His knowledge of the startup ecosystem, its constituents, successes, opportunities, and challenges run deep. He is also a member of CII National Start-up Council.

A Post-Graduate in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management Technology (IIMT), Ghaziabad, Rajat also has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Pune University. When not busy with the VC-PE and startup communities, you will find him spending quality time with family or enjoying a game of Golf.​

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Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. The evolution of the Indian VC ecosystem in the past decade (3:20)
3. IVCA's pivotal role in the advancement of the Indian VC ecosystem (5:06)
4. Rajat's career path (7:45)
5. IVCA's remarkable milestones and contributions (17:55)
6. Envisioning a thriving startup ecosystem (26:04)
7. Inspiring success stories from India's vibrant startup landscape (42:20)
8. Rajat's lasting legacy: Shaping the future of Venture Capital (51:29)

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Social Links:

IVCA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/indianvca

Rajat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rajattandy

Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vc

Akash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakash

Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivc

Akash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash