That One Idea about lifelong entrepreneurs, and their collective wisdom distilled for you on our podcast series | Issue #71 | Feb '25
WaterBridge Ventures
We back missionary founders just as they set out to change the world!
Monthly Spotlight
Deep Dive Into Our Choice Story Of The Month
WaterBridge launches Season 4 of That One Idea podcast series themed "The Encore Entrepreneurs - Wisdom & Wild Ambition"
25% of India's unicorns are founded by serial entrepreneurs. Startups founded by repeat founders reach unicorn status 3.2X faster than first-time ventures. We invited four 2-4X founders whom we respect and admire, and sought out their stories.?
We are thrilled to present those encapsulated learnings through a series of conversations themed “The Encore Entrepreneurs: Wisdom & Wild Ambition”, as part of our podcast series “That One Idea”. Their journeys reflect resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to innovation. These founders exhibit a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship.
Our guests started their most impactful ventures later in life, well into their 40s and 50s, leveraging decades of experience.?
Gautam Sinha ( CBREX ) began his entrepreneurial journey in 1996 and founded CBREX, his third company, nearly 25 years later. Srikanth Iyer (HomeLane), a 4X entrepreneur, co-founded HomeLane in 2014 after over 20 years of experience across multiple ventures.?
D Venkatesh launched Lentra in 2019 after an entrepreneurial marathon spanning 30 years in software sales. Deepak Shenoy had been a multi-faceted, multi-domain entrepreneur since the late 1990s before founding Capitalmind in 2013.
Interestingly, while founders such as Gautam remained deeply embedded in their respective domains, DV, Srikanth and Deepak explored diverse industries before focusing on their current ventures.??
Today, HomeLane is India’s top home interiors company and is preparing for an IPO; CapitalMind is among a select group of AMCs having received SEBI in-principle approval to launch its mutual fund. Lentra is a market leader in digital lending transformation, processing $20B in loans for 50+ banks globally, and CBREX is emerging as a global, AI-led recruiter OS, sourcing and screening 5,000 candidates monthly across 29+ countries.
Every one of their journeys reeks of determination and an iron will to stay the course and survive, come what may. Their journeys reflect resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to building scalable, sustainable businesses over time.?
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Portfolio Milestones
Notable Updates From Our Portfolio
magicpin triples revenue to ?870Cr in FY24?
magicpin , the largest seller app on the Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) , has grown its revenue 3X from ?297Cr in FY23. This growth is accompanied by an overall improvement in the financial standing of the company. Adjusted EBITDA has shrunk to -9.8% from -39.2% in FY23, while cash burn has reduced by 30%. This marks a significant stride towards achieving profitability and scaling sustainably. magicNOW, its foray into 15-min delivery, has rode the quick commerce tailwinds to rapidly scale to 200K orders within its first month of operations.
CityMall expands footprint to 11 more cities
CityMall democratises online shopping for underserved households in Bharat, through its community-driven e-commerce platform. With its expansion to Saharanpur, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Rae Bareilly and 7 other cities in Tier II+ India, CityMall is a step closer to empowering Bharat's households with affordable, high-quality grocery and essentials—delivered right at their doorstep.
Loopworm wins Aegis Graham Bell Award for Innovation in Agriculture category?
This prestigious recognition is a testament to Loopworm 's commitment to sustainable nutrition and innovation in biotechnology. Loopworm transforms insects (silk-worm pupae) into high-value proteins & bioactives, driving impact across animal nutrition, value-added ingredients, and recombinant proteins. It has commissioned a 6K TPA facility in Bengaluru that is certified with EU TRACES, GMP+, HACCP, and ISO 22000—global safety standards necessary to cater to an growing international client base.
Trampoline sells out debut lamps & dining tables collection at January Furniture Show
Trampoline got off to a strong start in 2025, with a dazzling display of its newly unveiled Spring-Summer collection at the January Furniture Show as well as at the Spring Fair & Autumn Fair. The SS collection includes over 100 new products, and 2 exciting new category launches - lamps and dining tables. Customers couldn't stop talking about Trampoline's strong design language, sharp pricing and trade-only focused proposition. They found love from the UK's largest independent retail brands, onboarded new clients from Ireland and Scotland, and closed Jan '25 with the largest-ever order book generated in a single month.
BimaKavach launches India's first fully DIY digital commercial insurance purchase?
With this, buying business insurance becomes faster, easier, and truly seamless. Businesses can access instant quotes for 9 insurance products on BimaKavach 's website, and complete the purchase online without any hassles. Currently live with Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited , BimaKavach has 4 more insurers in the pipeline, scheduled to go live in the next 2-3 months. BimaKavach has played a pivotal role in improving access to insurance, with 78% of the customers being new to insurance. With this first-of-its-kind capability, BimaKavach has heralded a new era in India's thriving insurtech ecosystem.
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Newsflash
WaterBridge Founders In The News This Month
Atlan paints the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit 2025 blue?
Atlan was back at the Gartner D&A Summit, presenting live demos of their Visionary platform and sharing customer success stories from 通用汽车 & 美敦力 . Pedro Martinez from GM revealed how they have teamed up with Atlan to operationalize data governance for AI, using automation, data contracts & cross-domain delivery for a competitive edge. Deytr Francisco from Medtronic shared how their data product approach, powered by Atlan, drove 5X adoption growth in 6 months, transforming governance through domain engagement and documentation!
Priya recognised as one of Dun & Bradstreet’s “Dynamic Women Business Leaders 2025”
Priya Singh , Co-founder & Director of India's #1 bus transport technology company Chalo , has made public transportation safer for women in India, and hassle-free for commuters. Today, Chalo serves 180M rides/month across 65 cities with 30K buses. This award is a testament to Priya's passion to drive socio-economic progress and make cities sustainable and more inclusive.
Posha featured as a live case study at Stanford University GSB?
Raghav Gupta , co-founder of Posha (formerly Nymble) , was at Stanford University Graduate School of Business sharing his journey of building autonomous cooking robots, with the MBA Class of 2025. In a classroom setup simulation of how VCs evaluate investments, Raghav pitched Posha to Sara Thomas Deshpande , General Partner at Maven Ventures Group , complete with a live demo and food tasting. Early adopters of Posha are loving the product, as is evident with an uptick in word-of-mouth referrals. Purchase orders for Batch 3, which is 4X larger than Batch 2, are underway.? ?
Girish on why publishers struggle to scale monetisation, with Sam Bell
In AdTech, the buyer always had the upper hand in negotiations. Publishers are often left stuggling with a lack of transparency, walled gardens and complex integrations. In this podcast, Girish Vishwanath C & Sam Bell unpack how publishers can take back control of their ad revenue, the role of AI/ML in ad revenue optimisation and how Adster's meta-mediation platform can help achieve that.?
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The Dots That Make the Picture
Celebrating The Everyday
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Read?about WaterBridge, our?Portfolio & Team:
Strategic Leader | Driving Growth and Success | Human Capital Expert
17 小时前Great to see Gautam and CBREX featured!
Cofounder - Chalo Mobility, Building ImpactTech with digitisation. Solving Public Transport in India and Beyond. Humanitarian by DNA. Passionate for Human, Social and Economic Development Impact.
17 小时前??