-Asad Daud, Director, SAT Group of Companies
Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India.Here,Asad Daud, Director, SAT Group of Companies shares his responses.
Q1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing business?
In the last couple of years, India has emerged as one of the epicenters for entrepreneurship. India has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. The number of startups continues to grow with each passing year, and entrepreneurship is the new key trend in this highly consumer-driven Indian market. We fund startups with innovative business models that have the potential to disrupt markets. We believe that in doing so, we will be able to partner with such startups quite early on, thus becoming an indispensable part of their growth journey.
Q2. What is your view on the future of India as a market?
These young innovative startups are extremely promising, and we are confident that we will witness some of them emerge as giants in the coming future. Given the pace at which India’s startup ecosystem is growing and thriving, with active support from the Government of India, we are very bullish on being a part of such an ecosystem. India is not only the hotbed for startups, but its diverse sectoral contribution is also noteworthy. We hope to ride this wave and create a meaningful and long-term impact on society.
Q3. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.
We practice conscious and well-thought-out strategy aiming at delivering exponential value creation. While scouting for potential startups to invest in, we primarily look for the ones in the pre-seed or seed-stage leveraging technology to disrupt traditional business models. Our portfolio is impact driven and we are geographically & sector agnostic investor. significant part of our investment’s hails from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. We consider it a responsibility to nurture and assist these startups operationally, to help them make it big despite their geographical roadblocks.
Q4. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor?
Q5. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally.
Consumer Trends – Digital Transformation, Sustainability, Localization (Make in India), Convenience at doorsteps, Impact driven.
Industry Trends – EV, Fintech, Agri tech, Drones, Renewable Energy, E-commerce
Technology Trends – Web3, AI, Blockchain, IoT, Machine Learning
Q6. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.
Q7. How do you support your portfolio companies?
Q8. Which of your portfolio company you are very excited about and why?
- Agnikul's unique selling point is its ability to provide tailor-made launch services for small satellite constellations. Its modular launch vehicle technology allows for customizable rocket configurations based on the requirements of the satellites being launched. The company claims that its launch vehicle can be assembled and launched in under a week, which is significantly faster than traditional launch providers.
Aerospace industry)
Q9. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs.
About Asad Daud:
Mr. Asad Daud, is a young entrepreneur, responsible for managing several businesses under the SAT Group of Companies. He joined the family business at a young age of 22. He holds a Master’s degree in Accounting & Finance from London School of Economics, London and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance from HR College, Mumbai. He has also completed Executive Education courses from IIM Bangalore and ISB Hyderabad.
He is managing director for Aeroflex Industries Limited which has recently filed DRHP for IPO listing & director for Sah Polymers Limited which got listed on NSE and BSE in the beginning of 2023.
He has a vision to turn the ideas into successful ventures which has a significant impact on the industry and the broader economy and is a strategic thinker who possesses a unique combination of intellect, creativity, and business acumen.
He has successfully co-founded Genext Students Private Limited, an ed-tech platform providing virtual live classes for superior learning outcomes at K-12 level which has now been acquired by Navneet Education Limited. He also has a rich experience in appraising and investing in various start-ups. Under his leadership, SAT Group has invested in 125+ such start-ups which include Confirmtkt, Inc42, LenDen Club, Eduvanz GalaxEye, Laminar, Agnikul, PeeSafe, among others and has also successfully exited from few start-ups.
