How Vinita Surana, Hyd’s ‘Lioness’ Investor, Is Powering Startup Growth As An Operating Partner

Dynamic leadership extends beyond boardrooms - mentor, serial entrepreneur and Founder of VinVinSituation Venture Fund, Vinita Surana strongly believes. She has served as the past Chairperson of Ficci YFlo and JITO, where she championed women in businesses. The Hyderabad-headquartered venture fund is supporting early and growth-stage startups across diverse sectors, from gaming and coworking spaces to edtech and logistics. The Executive Director of Surana Group will soon be seen on a spot funding show as a lioness- investor and judge, on Jio cinema. In conversation with Bizz Buzz, Vinita Surana, who is on the Board of 20 companies, shares her experience of being a growth partner for startups

How was your experience of being a Lioness for the spot funding programme?

The programme, designed on the lines of Shark Tank, aims at providing a platform for startups from tier-2 and 3 cities. The underlining belief is that they should also be self-sustainable. There were few startups from metros too. During the show, I committed to invest in eight companies. Post the shooting, there was a three-month due diligence period. After research conducted by my team, I decided to go ahead with five startups. Total 50 startups had participated in the show, and their ticket size started from Rs 30 lakh. About 20 – 30 per cent of the startups had a unique moat, there were also some who are doing something better than the one’s present in the market. The unique element of the programme was that, besides the five judges there was a group of angel investors that received the opportunity to top up investment.

Recently, you were on a visit to Japan. What is your take on the manufacturing or innovation ecosystem there?

I visited nearly 10 factories in Japan, I visited the Indian Embassy there, and got the opportunity to meet thought leaders and experts of their industries. According to me, the difference between the ecosystem there and in India is that they are very system oriented and robotic. For every small thing there is a factory, process, and machine line. They figure out everything before starting a business or working on an innovation. Countries like Japan, Germany, and to an extent the US also gets the product market fit right as they deploy huge funds for research and development. They have many focus groups, analysis and feed back for perfecting a product before entering the market.

Your online videos and content indicate towards mentorhip / leadership being influenced by spiritualism…

In the last one year, I have been in rooms I don’t think I deserve or I am eligible to be. Yet I have been there, worked with those people, collaborated and grown. All the credit goes to spirituality. I have benefited from a foundation of certain beliefs. I feel that more people should know about it as it might fast-track their progress too. We do not touch startups where we find leakages. We will not touch startups in grey area. More than a right leader a startup founder should have the right principles in place. Firstly, we go for vibe check of the founder as we are not worried about profits but we see their mentality. Building startup is not glamorous which it has become right now. The core is solving problem and the by-product is making money. Ethics and foundation have to be strong otherwise it will be a house of cards and we are not into it. We will see slower growth but we want to build the foundation very strong.

How did this transition from entrepreneur to investor happen?

Pre-Covid I was more of an entrepreneur. I was more involved into marketing of my family business, mainly in the solar sector. I later also got into marketing in the real estate. Being the only woman in the family business, the default responsibility given to me was employee growth, HR and so on. Post-Covid, I started raising capital for Surana Groups expansion plan, for instance, if we are setting up a new solar plant or starting new real estate project, I managed raising funds. During the first year of Covid, I invested passively in few startups and that did not go well. After that I set up VinVinSituation Venture Fund and started doing active investment which is called as Operation Excellence, where we become their operating partner. We help them while safeguarding our investment. Three-years back while I was living in the US for six months I also got into hosting a global podcast. I also got very interested in content creation. If I believe in a brand I go in as a promotion partner and help small startups with visibility. I am also associated with a large private equity fund, here my role is to deploy upwards of Rs 200 crore to Rs 400 crore in any large or medium-size companies which is on growth trajectory and has a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore.

What was your take-away from mentoring startups?

My investor journey started with mentorship. I started getting invites to deliver talks at startup incubation centres. Surana Group is a mid-size corporation operating in real estate, copper and solar. I feel mid or large size corporations miss out on what startups have. Startups operate amidst limited resources, network, and capital. So I was fascinated by seeing the hunger they have to achieve something. I felt…let me help them grow while growing myself. My journey, that started four years back as a speaker, later transitioned into mentor and investor. If I like an idea I instruct my due diligence team to research about the startup after which we take the investment ahead. We support them with growth in customer base, connect them to resources and many other offerings, which means instead of being only an investor I am there as a co-founder.

How much has VinVinSituation committed in startups?

My initial investment was in a UI/UX startup, majorly on strategic level. The one’s that followed later includes gaming and co-working space, data analytics, eco-friendly cutlery and other varied industries. VinVinSituation Venture Fund has operating partners like experts in the field of marketing, compliances, and others. If we need a particular expert we rope in external partner to cater to that specific startups need. In the last two years we have committed under Rs 50 crore in various startups. For the next year our plan is to commit nearly Rs 80 crore. These startups are all inter-related to the sector Surana Group is operating in. For instance we provide warehouse for Amazon, Flipkart, Skoda, Kia and other big brands, so I have invested in last-mile logistic and data analytics startups. For the next year we are bullish on startups with solution for renewable energy, specifically in the solar space, as it can be integrated into our Group. I am also very bullish on tech startups who are into data analytics, above that having strong AI and ML moat which is patented and cater to any industry are also the multi-baggers. I have my eye on these startups for the next few years.

Recently you entered the co-working space with the launch of VinSpace. How is the experience?

Startup like VinSpace comes from the foundation of our parent company, where we have developed plug-and-play office spaces for IT companies. I felt that forward integration in the real estate business through a startup with complimentary skills will be co-working space. VinSpace is a good opportunity to write-off assets that are not sold and to test co-working model at this particular location. It is a 75-seater co-working space in Secunderabad, and as we own the asset I spent Rs 1.50 crore on the interiors. We offer range of price plans starting from Rs 4,000 wheras our competitors charge Rs 8,000 for the same facility. We have locked-in few cabins and fixed desks are booked for the year. Mostly the bookings have come from digital marketing companies, law firms, CA offices, game and content creators. I plan to expand VinSpace as we have other available assets. I have identified 200-seater space, each in Financial District and Gachibowli. But, first we have to get the product market fit right at Secunderabad.

As an investor, what is your take on the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad?

I have seen many companies migrating from Bangalore, Mumbai or Delhi to Hyderabad. If we literally compare to these cities, Hyderabad has to yet catch-up in terms of talent availability and startup founders wanting to choose this city. As we get to see that despite the traffic woes of Bangalore, founders are prefering to set up base over there. However, because of government initiatives like T-Hub, We-Hub, We-Work and other strong incubation centres, Hyderabad has gained its place in the innovation map. I do not feel that investors have to be present in Hyderabad to boost the ecosystem as the whole process has gone digital making startup and investor connect convenient across borders. If the comparison is in terms of startup growth itself, then the city has to catch up.

Have you charted a growth plan for your investment profile for the next few years?

Right now, I am investing with my personal money. I want to create a Venture Capital fund. I want to grow that pool of funding by bringing in money from finanical institutions, family offices and other HNIs. I also want to support women entrepreneurs and build an incubation centre to hand-hold them. Right now, I am on the Board of 20 Companies. I was able to do it despite having to prove myself. So, I want to extend that support to other women entrepreneurs too.