Founder of Kalaari Capital, Vani Kola : Redefining the Start-up Ventures

Vani Kola is a well-known venture capitalist and businesswoman from India. She is the founder and CEO of Bangalore, India-based venture capital firm Kalaari Capital. In the past, Vani has had success as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, USA. Myntra, VIA, Apps Daily, Zivame, Power2SME, Bluestone, and Urban Ladder are just a few of her notable investments. She is also a fantastic speaker who has given inspiring lectures at business conferences, including TED Talks, TIE, and INK.

Vani Kohla’s early life and Education

Born in Hyderabad, Vani Kola graduated from Osmania University with a degree in electrical engineering. She immigrated to the USA in the late 1980s and finished her master’s degree at Arizona State University. Vani Kohla then started working with notable organisations in the technology sector, including Empros, Control Data Corporation, and Consilium Inc. Vani started her first company endeavour, RightWorks, in 1996 after spending over 12 years as an employee. RightWorks was a provider of electronic purchasing.

Here’s how Vani Kohla’s Kalaari Capital rose to success

Vani sold 53% of RightWorks to the Internet Capital Group for $657 million, including cash and stock, after serving as the company’s creator for 4 years. In the end, she sold the business to 12 Technologies in 2001 for $86 million. She later discovered a different side to herself and established NthOrbit, a San Jose-based company that develops supply-chain software. A software programme called Certus was also released by this firm. PepsiCo bought the internal controls and assurance software from Certus in 2005.

After completing this, Vani was prepared to embark on a new adventure by returning to India after living in the United States for 22 years in order to engage with young entrepreneurs. She had some time to investigate and comprehend what was in hand for her in the future once she returned to India in 2006. In an attempt to comprehend the Indian market when it came to investing, she spent a month conducting research, travelling, and meeting people. This was the beginning of her career as a venture capitalist.

Following extensive investigation, she teamed up with former Intel Capital India CEO Kuar Shiralagi and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vinod Dham. They created a $189 million fund with support from New Enterprise Associates (NEA). NEA Indo-US Venture Partners is the name of this company. After successfully operating for four years, NEA made the decision to leave this joint venture and forge its own path into the Indian market.

“Realizing where you’re at and how far you may take the business, whether to risk it all to expand it further and when you should bear the gamble to sell it off—that tale plays out repeatedly, not just once or with a single product. And those decisions are yours to make.” – Vani Kohla, Founder Kalaari Capital

Key takeaways from Vani Kohla’s inspirational journey

• As opined by the genius herself, continuously keeping an eye on the competition and responding to it can eventually hurt a business.

• It’s critical to avoid underestimating competition.

• Last but not least, be realistic, even if it means giving up something you’ve worked for it.