Of note VET focus is relatively unique in India, as the seed stage and early stage VC space is relatively unoccupied and its focus on the ‘digital divide/ bottom of the pyramid’ sectors further enhances its uniqueness. More importantly, the consistent early-stage and incubation focus of Ventureast and the TeNeT group over the past ten years in India sets it well apart from the other fund managers.

Ventureast has close to $250 million early-stage capital under management. Ventureast manages Ventureast Tenet I & II Funds, along with the Tenet Group. This is the first academic institution linked venture fund to be formed in India. Additionally, the share holders of Ventureast are also the majority share holders of APIDC Venture Capital Limited (APIDC VC), a joint venture with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC). APIDC VC manages two funds: APIDC Venture Capital Fund, the first fund in India to be run by a public-private partnership; and The Biotechnology Venture Fund, India’s first life-sciences focused venture fund. In addition, Ventureast is raising a larger early stage fund (Ventureast Proactive Fund) which is a companion fund to VET.

The Tenet group of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has, since 1994, been actively promoting development and commercialization of innovative and affordable technologies with specific relevance to rural India. In the course of its efforts, the Tenet Group has developed significant experience in rural technologies and incubation. Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala spearheads the efforts of the group and will be closely associated with VET. The group has recently started a Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) at IIT, Madras to further its incubation efforts in rural technologies. The TeNeT group is also playing a key role in the development of IIT Madras Research Park, along the lines of Stanford Labs to promote technology research in India.

The team behind VET has complementary skills in the areas of venture capital expertise, deep technology knowledge, investment banking experience and a thorough knowledge of the Indian market as well as emerging global trends.

• Sarath Naru: Founder of Ventureast, with about $250 million under management, and one of the earliest venture capital fund managers in India.. One of the early players in the venture capital sector in India, Sarath has been instrumented in Ventureast’s consistent focus on early stage venture capital since his first successful bid to privatize and manage APIDC’s (Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation) venture fund in 1995. He has brand management experience from Procter & Gamble (USA), and has a B. Tech from IIT Madras, and an MBA from GSB at U of Chicago.
  
  
• Ashok Jhunjhunwala: Founder of the TeNeT group, IIT Madras, Professor of Electrical Engineering (India and USA) and an incubator of seed stage technology companies. He received the Padmashree (National Award) for distinguished service in science and engineering, telecommunications and is a member of several government committees (including Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Committee) and has been a board member of several leading Indian companies (VSNL – Indias largest international telecom operator; SBI – Indias largest commercial bank, Sasken –leading software products and services company, to name a few). He has a B.Tech from IIT Kanpur , and an M.S and Ph.D from University of Maine, USA.
  
  
• Anuradha Ramachandran: She has a strong investment banking / corporate finance (Lazard India Ltd), background spanning 10 years and has been working with the TeNeT group since 2004, focusing on incubation. She has a B.Sc. (Physics) and M.B.A (Finance) from Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.