Sateesh Andra: mastering the VC game

Andra, who has been roped in as managing partner of Ventureast, says he wants to play catalyst role and help young entrepreneurs

From being a state champion in table tennis, to becoming an entrepreneur to turning into a venture capitalist, Sateesh Andra, who has recently been roped in as managing partner of Ventureast, has come a long way.

At Ventureast, he primarily oversees the Ventureast Tenet Fund, an India-focused seed-stage VC fund consisting of investments across technology (mobility, cloud, internet) and technology-enabled education, healthcare, financial services, cleantech and high-impact, invention-based social business sectors.

Prior to joining Ventureast this month, Andra was a venture partner and one of the founding members of Draper Fisher Juvertson (DFJ).

He helped Hyderabad Angels, a platform to provide seed capital to start-ups. As a private investor earlier, he has also invested in early-stage American and Indian venture capital funds. 

On his decision to leave DFJ, which has invested in many exciting companies like Skype and Hotmail, and joining Ventureast, Andra says, "DFJ will be raising its 11th fund anytime now. And, each fund is a 10-year commitment for any partner in terms of making investments, growing companies and exiting. Each time you go into a new fund, its another 7-10-year kind of commitment. However, I wanted to gracefully start something and basically spend time in the early stage side. The second reason is the fact that I want to be here (India) for long."

Andra says that he has got an opportunity to go and work with another large private equity fund, which wanted him to be a part of its team. However, the reason why he didn't chose that one and went early stage is “that’s (early stage) what I really like.”

Prior to DFJ, Andra co-founded Euclid, an IT management software company, and was instrumental in raising over $35-million VC funding. He also holds US patents in communications and networking.

“I have been an entrepreneur, and I wanted to role up my sleeves, play a catalyst role and go help these young entrepreneurs realise their dreams,” he says.

Sitting at his favourite coffee shop, The Bougainvillea Room, at the Emaar Golf Course in Hyderabad for this interview, Andra, who was the state sub-junior and junior champion in table tennis twice during the late 1980s besides playing nationals for Andhra Pradesh, says a lot of people underestimate the caddie’s role, who carries the bag and clubs of a golfer, or even the pit crew in Formula-1 racing.

“Definitely, those are all in the catalyst roles..helping someone reaching their goals. So that's what excited me and that’s why I looked at this platform (early stage),” he adds.

While continuing to play a little bit of table tennis, Andra also volunteers for the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, to make sure that corporates get into sports and ensuring there are corporate sponsors for the academy.

Besides, he is involved in HAPPY, a non-governmental organisation, in engaging corporates and making employees aware of non-communicable diseases.

“When I came back from the US, I was not sure how long I will stay in India. Possibly, I wanted to go back. Now that I have been here (India) for four-plus years, I want to be here for some more time. I am here to stay,” he quips.

Ask him what his manta is for a successful start-up, and pat comes the answer, “Disruptive idea, passionate entrepreneurs, focus, and ounce of luck.”