AI Will Enable Indian Companies to be More Efficient, Scale Faster: Harsha Kumar
Drawing on lessons from Ola, where funds in the early days dismissed the notion of a 'cab company' as a billion-dollar opportunity, Harsha emphasized that insights as an operator sharpen one's ability to identify potential and empathize deeply.
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Harsha's passion for technology dates back to her early teens. "When I was 14 years old and naive, I told my mom that I was going to be a computer engineer, and so I wanted to learn how to code," she recalls. "To date, I think my best memories are sort of with headphones on, debugging all night, fixing a bug was like the ultimate high of my life." Harsha is a Partner and Advisor, India and Southeast Asia at Lightspeed Partners.
The early immersion in tech laid the foundation for Harsha's career with startups. Before becoming an investor, she was one of the people behind OlaCab's growth, helping the company scale from zero to one million rides per day. Harsha also worked with Zynga and played a role in Persistent Systems' IPO journey.
When asked whether the experience as an operator inherently makes one a better investor, Harsha said, "In my opinion, the answer to that is no. Being an investor makes you a better investor. The longer you do it, the better you get at it. But I think being an operator at startups and seeing the journey from nothing to scale helps you work with portfolio companies better."
Drawing on lessons from Ola, where funds in the early days dismissed the notion of a 'cab company' as a billion-dollar opportunity, Harsha emphasized that insights as an operator sharpen one's ability to identify potential and empathize deeply.
"Investing is a lot about empathy… You understand the nuances of building a company so much better. You are less judgmental, and you're more supportive, because you know what it takes, you've seen it."
Turning to recent portfolio themes, Harsha does not hesitate to invoke the 'AI buzzword'.
"And I'll tell you why, because I have a strong point of view on this… I think it will enable companies in India to get operationally even more efficient, to scale faster, and to provide better services."
Harsha highlighted Pocket FM, one of Lightspeed's portfolio companies and a serialized audio-fiction platform, as a case study in AI-driven efficiency: "Writer productivity is up 50 per cent, content production cost is down further… they can do 3x the content for the same price" Improved margins, she argues, are vital in India's fiercely value-conscious market.
Harsha also draws attention to India's payments evolution:
"NPCI or UPI is like a gift that keeps giving. Now they've come up with AutoPay on UPI. That is phenomenal… we're seeing companies scale in revenue rapidly because of AutoPay."
Harsha contrasts India's micro payment and subscription challenges with the US, where credit-card-based billing has long helped smoothen consumer retention. With AutoPay, "400 bucks a month for a good movie is worth it… You would pay that to go to the cinema."
With the firm operating across both mature and emerging markets, there is always room for inevitability in macro-shifts surfacing in investment decisions. Harsha said, "Venture is really long-term investing," much like value investing in public markets. "You are in it for 10 years… every time venture capital has tried to react too quickly, it hasn't worked."
"Trade wars, public-market turmoil, global warming. We can't react to these; we need to respond, sit back, observe, collect information, and decide when the time is right."
Harsha also employs a balanced perspective on India's heavy reliance on venture capital. "At early stage, there is enough and more capital in the country. Where we struggle is perhaps not even at the late stage. We struggle in the middle between the early and late stages," said Harsha.
Harsha explained that the country's domestic institutional ecosystem and century-old funds are yet to amass the depth seen in the US, but it is evolving.
"I don't think that the absence of domestic investors in private markets is affecting venture capital or startup growth in the country," said Harsha.
For founders navigating global tensions and market volatility, Harsha's message stays simple and said that there is enough capital going around for companies that do the job.
"There is capital in the market, and India is still growing fast. India is hungry. We have high expectations from technology. There is absolutely no reason for an ambitious founder to hold themselves back because of the global macro; focus on what's working, double down, stay focused, and keep building. You do it right and the capital is available."
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