 "David Tudor, Group General Counsel, Naspers/Prosus")
South African-owned and Amsterdam-headquartered investment firm Prosus is looking to build an ecosystem based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can bring together businesses with synergy, enhancing their efficiency and value.
David Tudor, group general counsel and part of the management leadership team of Naspers/Prosus, said: “We are building an ecosystem based on AI that can bring together businesses with synergy — such as food delivery, payments, and online travel agencies. You see this emerging with our food portfolio in Brazil with iFood and online travel agency Despegar. It is at an early stage in India, but we aspire to leverage AI similarly in what is one of our top three global markets.”
In India, Prosus has investments in Swiggy and owns payment technology (tech) company PayU, Rapido, a ride-hailing aggregator, and ecommerce platform Meesho, which analysts say could be built into a synergetic ecosystem based on AI.
Tudor, however, cautions that many companies are using “the badge of AI” to attract investment or valuations, calling it a “very dangerous” trend.
While Prosus may not look at investing in standalone AI companies, Tudor says, “What is, however, an interesting investment opportunity for us is where AI is reshaping an existing business by helping it scale up and build more operational efficiencies.”
Tudor points out that Prosus’ investment philosophy is different in many ways. “We don’t take an ‘outside-in’ view of business; instead, we rely on local teams to determine and run it. That is why Prosus has an investment team in Bengaluru. We pay taxes locally and have a much longer-term vision for returns on investment,” he adds.
Asked whether the investment company will stick to its stance from December that it has identified five companies from its portfolio for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 12–18 months, despite the market downturn, Tudor says: “The right time for an IPO is based on offering shareholders returns and finding a market for the shares — whether that is in the immediate future or an extended future, I am agnostic to that. Our responsibility is to invest so that we can provide returns to our shareholders, and if that means we hold something for a while, so be it. We are, after all, long-term investors. Our investment horizon is much longer.”
On whether Prosus has become more cautious about investing in education technology (edtech) after the Byju’s fiasco, where it was a major investor, Tudor says: “I fundamentally believe in edtech. It is a huge opportunity, as education is a major expense for many families, and tech can democratise it. When we made sizeable investments in this space, we did not find the kinds of returns we expected. Some companies are doing better now than earlier, but if you have made investments that have not worked out the way you wanted, you will naturally be a bit hesitant about committing more capital in that area.”
However, he adds that the thesis that made Prosus excited to invest in edtech still holds. “Maybe it is too early, or maybe people have not found the exact combination of models to realise it,” he says.
Tudor notes that Prosus has stayed away from production-linked incentive companies and manufacturing, as it has historically not invested in hardware, where it lacks expertise, and has instead focused on software and tech-led opportunities.
On whether the tariff war unleashed by US President Donald Trump will impact Prosus’ business, Tudor says it may not directly, as the firm operates in services and software. However, it could have an effect if the economies of the countries where Prosus has businesses start slowing down.
“It is not good for anybody if global growth slows down. But in our case, we invest in companies that are more local and not cross-border. We are not a US company imposing its model locally; we are a South African-owned company based in Amsterdam, investing in local entrepreneurs and paying taxes locally,” he adds.
