E106: Tarun Sharma (Managing Partner, MegaDelta Capital)

The Desi VC: Indian Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Startups | VC

Tarun Sharma is Managing Partner at MegaDelta Capital Advisors, a sub-advisor to Millenna Capital, a Mauritius based investment fund as well as an investment manager of MegaDelta Capital Fund I, a SEBI registered Category II Alternate Investment Fund. The fund has invested in companies such as GOQii, Nova, IDfy, Naaptol, Firstcry, MoneyTap etc. and others.

MegaDelta typically invest $15-25M across sectors of such as Healthcare, Enterprise technology and Engineering Services.

Tarun has more than 18 years of work experience, including 16 years in principal investing and investment advisory in India and around the world. He currently serves on the boards of GreytHR Software, Intelligence Node, Panacea Medical Technologies, and Air Works Engineering, as well as Nova Fertility and FirstCry.com as a Board Observer.

Tarun formed the core investment advisory team for NEA India prior to joining MegaDelta Capital, leading investments in consumer, healthcare, and technology companies. And before that, he worked for Peepul Capital Private Equity, where he was involved in transaction structuring and execution, as well as actively managing portfolio companies in the consumer and media sectors. He began his career at Goldman Sachs International in London, first with the Equity Derivatives team and then with the Global Macro Proprietary trading team, where he developed a strong understanding of macro themes and translated them into investible opportunities.

Tarun received an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, India and earned his B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Delhi, India.

Episode Notes:

1. Intro (2:45)

2. Tarun’s journey into venture capital (4:12)

3. The evolution of the Indian venture capital landscape over the last 15 years (12:05)

4. How has Tarun evolved as an investor over the years? (16:20)

5. The role of a successful fund manager (21:35)

6. Takeaways from investing and collaborating with portfolio founders (case in point: Firstcry.com) (31:02)

7. Healthcare in India: Why haven't venture capitalists done more in this sector? (43:21)

8. Where is the real opportunity in healthcare in the next 4-5 years? (48:13)

9. Advice Tarun would give himself (55:20)

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