Prosus' Ashutosh Sharma: IPO is a Milestone, Not an Exit or the Finish Line
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India Ecosystem at Prosus, which has invested over $9bn in unicorns like Swiggy and Meesho, talks to Deepsekhar Choudhury about why India remains central to the firm’s long-term strategy. Edited excerpts
Prosus has remained a big believer in India through market cycles. What has been your long-term thesis for India?
India combines three rare attributes at scale: a very large and young consumer base, a rapidly formalising economy and digital public infrastructure that lowers the cost of participation for both consumers and entrepreneurs.
Over a multi-decade horizon, we see India as one of the most reliable sources of global value creation. That conviction is reflected in how we have continued to invest across cycles and stayed closely engaged with founders even when sentiment elsewhere has softened.
The long-standing narrative for India has been that it is a more of a diversification bet rather than a destination that can generate big alphas. How does Prosus see it?
That narrative is definitely evolving. What has changed over the past few years is the depth and maturity of companies being built in India. Businesses demonstrate strong unit economics, repeatable models and the ability to scale profitably. The recent wave of start-up IPOs [initial public offerings] is important not just symbolically, but because it demonstrates that India can generate durable, public-market-ready companies.
What are the things India still needs to work on for having a bigger, better start-up ecosystem?
There are still areas where the ecosystem can mature further. One is deeper pools of long-term risk capital, especially for sectors that require patient investment. Another is continued regulatory clarity and consistency, which help founders plan and build with confidence. Equally important is talent depth; particularly senior operating talent with experience of scaling complex businesses. As more companies go public and global, that talent loop will strengthen.
We value founders who are adaptable and eager to learn, especially as businesses scale and complexity increases
There is a concern that India doesn't yet have globally competitive artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups. What's your evaluation of the quality of AI start-up deal flow you are seeing in India?
India is at an important AI crossroads. The decisions made over the next six to 12 months will be critical in determining our role in the global AI value chain. There is good effort in this direction—start-up deal flow is improving meaningfully, the quality of founders is rising and applied AI at scale is a real strength for India.
A large part of Indian AI innovation comprises companies building deeply embedded solutions across commerce, logistics, travel, education, health care and enterprise productivity. They are solving real, high-friction problems at population scale.
The sophistication of use cases has improved significantly over the past two to three years. As an emerging economy, India needs the efficiency gains that AI can drive to accelerate productivity and growth.
We also need to focus on foundational capabilities for long-term competitiveness. For India, participation in the foundational development of AI—spanning models, data infrastructure and compute—is not just an innovation ambition but a strategic and national-security imperative.
In a unique move, Prosus made a significant bet on Ixigo as an AI play last year. Is it a one-off thing or are you open to evaluating more public companies?
Our investment thesis in Ixigo is predicated on it being an AI company, not on it being a public company. We look at AI as an enabler of better products, stronger engagement and more efficient operations, irrespective of whether a company is private or public. We remain open-minded about evaluating opportunities where we see long-term product differentiation and strong AI integration. The lens is the same: durability of the business, building for Bharat, clarity of execution and the ability to compound value over time.
There has been a rising cultural and policy sentiment in favour of deep-tech start-ups in India. Are you scouting for deep-tech start-ups here?
Deep tech requires patience, technical depth and a long runway to impact, and not every model fits that profile. Policy support and ecosystem momentum are helpful, but execution remains the most critical factor for long-term success.
We have recently collaborated with Accel through the AtomsX programme, where we co-invest in early-stage ‘leap-tech’ founders tackling breakthrough technologies spanning AI, advanced manufacturing, energy transition and more.
What are the most important founder traits that you look for when investing?
We look for founders who understand their market, can scale from PMF [product-market fit] and tackle both the opportunity and the risks. Resilience is equally critical, because building a company inevitably involves navigating uncertainty and setbacks. We also value founders who are adaptable and eager to learn, especially as businesses scale and complexity increases.
Strong founders combine ambition with humility and discipline.
What are some of the important markers that a start-up must hit before going public?
A successful IPO is less about hitting a single metric and more about demonstrating consistency and predictability. Public markets value clarity—on revenue visibility, unit economics, governance and long-term strategy. Companies should show evidence of sustainable growth, improved margins and operational discipline. Profitability, or a clear path to it, is increasingly important. We view IPO as a milestone, not as an exit or the finish line.