Rajan Anandan Calls on India's Top 50 Firms to Set Up VC Arms

One of India's most prominent venture investors has called on the country's 50 largest listed firms to launch in-house venture capital arms. Rajan Anandan made the argument in remarks published by The CapTable.

His central line: "India's top 50 companies should have venture capital arms." The statement frames a structural prescription aimed at the top of Indian corporate India.

Who is making the call?

Anandan is a familiar name in Indian venture. He ran Google's India operations for nearly seven years. He later joined Sequoia Capital India, which rebranded as Peak XV Partners in 2023. He now operates his own investment practice.

The proposal targets the largest listed firms by market capitalisation. India has roughly 50 companies trading at valuations that place them at the top of the NSE by that metric. Anandan does not name them.

What does a CVC arm actually do?

Corporate venture capital — known as CVC — has long offered incumbents a window into emerging technology categories. The model is well tested globally. Google runs GV. Salesforce runs Salesforce Ventures. Intel runs Intel Capital. Each writes cheques from a parent's balance sheet into early-stage founders.

Indian corporates run fewer such programmes. Tata Group runs TTT Ventures. Reliance backs JioGenNext. Kotak and HDFC operate bank-linked vehicles. Anandan treats these as exceptions. His call implies the rest of the top 50 should follow.

The mechanics of a CVC arm are well defined. A dedicated team writes cheques from the parent's balance sheet. The team reports to a separate investment committee. The mandate distinguishes strategic deals from financial M&A. Without those structures, corporate capital drifts into commercial arrangements dressed as investments.

Why now?

India's startup funding has cooled sharply from a 2021 peak. CVC capital could stabilise seed and Series A rounds, where capital is thinnest. The cooling cycle makes the call timely — corporate cheques can fill the gap left by retreating financial investors.

Anandan's prescription fits a global pattern. US tech giants wrote the first modern CVC template. Microsoft, Google, Intel and Salesforce have run such programmes since the 2000s. Their record is mixed. Some programmes produced strong returns. Others generated strategic intelligence without financial upside.

The proposal carries a critique. Indian corporate leaders, in Anandan's view, under-invest in early-stage technology. The result: thinner institutional support for founders at the very stages where patient capital matters most.

The counter-argument runs through governance. Public-company boards face fiduciary duties. CVC arms tie up capital in illiquid private assets. Boards may resist, especially during earnings pressure.

Anandan's prescription partly addresses the objection by proposing a separate CVC unit outside the parent's M&A function, keeping venture investing distinct from operating acquisitions. That separation reduces the conflict of interest that drags CVC returns down in some markets.

Will the top 50 listen?

Anandan's call will test how the top 50 respond. A handful of firms already run venture programmes. The question is whether the rest follow. New cheque sizes, new sector bets, and new founder networks could follow if Anandan's prescription takes hold at scale. Whether Indian industrial giants treat venture capital as core capability, or as a marketing exercise, will determine whether his call becomes policy or stays a headline.