India’s startup and business ecosystem is entering a phase where access to the right kind of capital is becoming increasingly important. As businesses move beyond early validation and look to expand their operations, they often require financing that can support equipment purchases, manufacturing capacity, working capital and long-term growth. This is creating opportunities for specialised financing solutions, particularly private credit, across sectors such as climate, agriculture, electric mobility and deep technology.

For Rohan Dani, AVP – Investments at BlackSoil, understanding these financing needs requires looking beyond revenue growth and headline numbers. Having spent the last eight years growing alongside BlackSoil, Rohan has witnessed the firm’s evolution and developed a perspective shaped by credit assessment, investment execution, portfolio management and team building. His work has increasingly focused on sectors such as climate and agriculture, where businesses often need structured capital to support their next stage of growth.

Growing with BlackSoil: From Transaction Execution to Leadership

Rohan’s professional journey has closely followed BlackSoil’s growth. He joined the firm in a supporting capacity across investments, fundraising and operations before gradually taking on responsibility for leading transactions end-to-end, particularly in the climate and agriculture sectors.

Working across different functions gave him a broader understanding of how an investment and credit business operates. One of the defining experiences in this journey was the integration of Caspian Debt, which brought together two teams with different ways of working. The experience reinforced the importance of alignment, knowledge sharing and openness to different perspectives.

His responsibilities have also expanded from executing transactions to building and mentoring a team that covers the entire credit lifecycle, from underwriting to portfolio monitoring.

For Rohan, leadership is not limited to driving transactions or achieving business targets. It involves taking ownership, leading by example and creating a team that can think independently and deliver consistently.

The experience of BlackSoil’s growth also changed how he views business building. He believes that scaling an organisation requires more than closing deals or increasing numbers. Strong people, processes and systems are essential to ensure that a business does not become dependent on a handful of individuals.

What Separates Early Traction from Sustainable Growth?

Having worked with businesses across sectors, Rohan believes early traction and long-term sustainability are two different measures of success. A business may attract attention through rapid growth, but its ability to sustain that growth depends on whether it is solving a genuine problem and addressing a clear market need.

He points to electric mobility, aquaculture technology and waste-to-energy as examples of areas where businesses are working towards specific industry requirements rather than simply following market trends.

Staying close to customers is equally important. Businesses must understand changing needs, listen to feedback and continue adapting their offerings. The objective should be to build products and services that customers find difficult to replace.

Financial fundamentals also play a central role. According to him, unit economics must make sense, or businesses should at least have a credible path towards making them work. Growth should strengthen an organisation rather than expose weaknesses in its business model.

From his perspective, early traction helps a business gain visibility, but strong fundamentals, customer loyalty and consistent execution determine whether it can sustain its position over time.

Evaluating Businesses Beyond the Numbers

When assessing a new investment or lending opportunity, Rohan considers several factors before deciding whether to explore it further. A referral from an established venture capital firm or institutional investor can provide a useful starting point for understanding a company and its founding team.

The initial assessment involves reviewing the business model, financials and credit history. This helps establish whether the opportunity is worth pursuing.

The next consideration is strategic fit. Rohan evaluates whether a business can contribute to portfolio diversification or strengthen BlackSoil’s presence in a particular sector. He also looks at the potential to develop a long-term lending relationship.

In sectors such as climate, sustainable agriculture and clean mobility, environmental and social impact form an additional part of the assessment.

Ultimately, he looks for businesses with strong teams, sound fundamentals and the potential to build lasting operations.

Why Cash Flow Matters More Than Revenue Growth

One of the recurring challenges Rohan observes in growing businesses is the tendency to equate revenue growth with financial health. From a credit perspective, this can create risks when companies focus on increasing their topline but overlook collections, receivables and working capital requirements.

He sums up this concern through a business adage: “Topline is vanity, profitability is sanity, but cash flow is reality.”

Revenue growth does not automatically translate into cash available to run the business. Receivables ageing, customer concentration and working capital management can significantly affect a company’s financial position.

He also cautions against taking on debt without carefully assessing repayment capacity. Businesses need to ensure that the tenure of their borrowing matches the cash flow cycle of the assets or activities being financed.

Choosing the right partners is another important consideration. Whether it is an investor, lender, customer or supplier, alignment on expectations, risk appetite and long-term objectives can influence how effectively a business scales.

For him, sustainable expansion is not simply about growing faster. It is about managing growth responsibly, maintaining adequate cash buffers and protecting the fundamentals of the business.

Private Credit and the Financing Needs of Emerging Sectors

The financing landscape is changing as specialised businesses emerge across climate, agriculture, deep technology and manufacturing. Rohan highlights developments in battery technology and charging infrastructure within electric mobility, alongside aquaculture technology, bio-inputs and precision farming in agriculture. Waste-to-energy and renewable energy are also creating new areas of business activity.

As India works towards strengthening domestic capabilities, the need for financing equipment, infrastructure and capacity expansion is increasing.

This is also changing how lenders assess businesses. Rather than relying only on traditional financial metrics, there is a growing focus on understanding business models and the cash flows that support them.

Rohan believes this creates a larger role for private credit and blended finance, particularly in areas where conventional lending may not adequately address specialised funding requirements.

Many businesses have already validated their models but still need structured capital to expand manufacturing capacity, invest in assets or support their next phase of operations. This financing gap presents an opportunity for private credit providers to support businesses beyond the proof-of-concept stage.

DeepTech, Manufacturing and Climate Among Key Opportunities

Looking ahead over the next three to five years, Rohan expects deep technology and manufacturing to play an important role in India’s economic development.

The country’s efforts to strengthen domestic capabilities, reduce import dependence and move up the value chain could create opportunities for businesses developing technology-led solutions. Areas such as electronics, EV components, battery technology, renewable energy and industrial automation are likely to remain important.

He is also positive about opportunities in climate and agriculture. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure and the circular economy offer scope for growth. In agriculture, bio-inputs, precision farming and technology-led agronomy are areas worth watching.

However, he believes investment decisions should not be driven by sectoral popularity alone. The focus should remain on identifying businesses that solve genuine problems, have defensible propositions and demonstrate a clear path towards cash generation.

For him, the opportunity lies in finding the right businesses within promising sectors rather than chasing the next high-profile trend.

Building Long-Term Value Through Governance and Discipline

Rohan believes that long-term value is built through the way businesses handle their immediate priorities. Delivering on commitments and maintaining financial discipline help establish credibility, which becomes increasingly important as an organisation grows.

He points to BlackSoil’s own journey, from a boutique advisory firm to a sizeable alternative credit platform, as an example of the importance of consistently getting the fundamentals right.

Governance, he emphasises, cannot be treated as an afterthought. Strong processes, transparency and financial discipline need to be part of a business from the beginning. While these practices may appear demanding in the short term, they help organisations build a stronger foundation for expansion.

He also believes that not every immediate opportunity is worth pursuing if it compromises long-term sustainability.

When it comes to decision-making under uncertainty, Rohan highlights the importance of experience and timely action. Instinct, in his view, develops through exposure to different situations and learning from their outcomes. He believes that avoiding a decision can sometimes be more damaging than making an incorrect one, particularly in a business where timing matters.

The objective is to assess the available information, take ownership of the decision and learn from the outcome.

India’s Next Phase of Growth: Capital, Capability and Execution

Rohan sees India at an important stage of its economic development. The push towards domestic manufacturing and deep-tech capabilities is creating opportunities across electronics, electric vehicle components, battery technology, renewable energy and industrial automation. Agriculture also has considerable scope for technology adoption, particularly in productivity, input efficiency, food processing and supply chains.

At the same time, converting this potential into sustainable businesses remains a challenge. Several of these sectors involve longer gestation periods and significant upfront capital expenditure. Patient capital, infrastructure, regulatory clarity and skilled talent will be important in helping businesses move from potential to scale.

From a private credit perspective, Rohan sees an opportunity to finance companies that have moved beyond proof of concept and require capital for capacity expansion, working capital or asset creation. Blended finance could also play an important role in climate and agriculture, where commercial capital alone may not always be sufficient.

For young professionals looking to build meaningful careers, his advice is to gain practical exposure, meet people and listen to different perspectives. He encourages them to develop depth in a particular area while understanding the commercial value of their work.

Being prepared, asking the right questions and following through on commitments can make a significant difference. He believes that taking ownership and building credibility through consistent work often create opportunities over time.

As India’s business ecosystem continues to mature, the availability of specialised capital will be an important part of enabling its next generation of enterprises. Rohan’s perspective highlights a broader shift in the financing landscape: sustainable growth will depend not just on how much capital businesses raise, but on how effectively they deploy it, manage cash flows and build strong operational foundations.

-By: Aakriti Jaiswal