India’s venture ecosystem has matured significantly over the last decade. Capital is deeper, founders are more seasoned, and governance conversations are happening much earlier in the lifecycle. Yet, as funding cycles evolve, one question remains central: what truly builds durable, institution-grade companies?

In a detailed conversation with Indian Startup Times, Swati Murarka, Principal at Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), shares how her journey across global banking institutions and venture capital shaped her investment lens, why BII’s evergreen capital structure changes founder conversations, and what it takes to build companies that outlast cycles.

From Banking Discipline to Venture Pattern Recognition

Swati’s early career across global banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays grounded her in risk assessment, capital structuring, and governance frameworks.

“In banking, discipline is non-negotiable. Capital has a cost, liquidity is finite, and governance is foundational,” she explains. The exposure also gave her cross-industry networks that continue to be valuable for due diligence and portfolio support.

Her transition to venture capital at Athera Venture Partners sharpened a different muscle. “Venture investing builds pattern recognition. You begin to understand founder psychology, asymmetry, and the nature of early conviction.”

The combination shaped her into what she describes as a balanced investor. “I underwrite long-term upside, but I am equally attentive to balance sheet resilience, governance maturity, and durability of business models.”

The Evergreen Advantage: Investing Without the Exit Clock

At Bertelsmann India Investments, the evergreen capital model fundamentally changes investment behavior.

Unlike traditional 10-year fund cycles, BII is not constrained by fixed timelines or artificial exit pressures. “We can support companies across cycles, including downturns. We can prioritise compounding over quick markups. And we align with founders on strategic value creation rather than financial engineering.”

In her view, time becomes a strategic advantage. “In traditional structures, time pressure shapes behaviour. In an evergreen model, time becomes an ally.”

What Drives Conviction?

When evaluating early to growth-stage startups, Swati looks for alignment across three dimensions:

1. Founder-market fit – Is the founder uniquely positioned to solve this problem? “Insight density matters more than storytelling.”

2. Sustainable competitive advantage – Is the company riding a durable long-term shift or solving a transitional gap?

3. Economic architecture – Even at early stages, she looks for clarity on eventual unit economics, capital intensity, and structural moats.

At growth stage, additional filters emerge: governance maturity and capital allocation discipline.

“Conviction builds when optimism is supported by structural clarity,” she says.

Themes Shaping India’s Next Decade

Rather than naming sectors, Swati frames opportunity in terms of structural themes.

1. Formalisation of the Economy
Digitisation and compliance rails are unlocking opportunities across financial services, SME enablement, and embedded finance.

2. Premiumisation and Rising Aspirations
As per capita income scales, consumer demand across health, education, and lifestyle categories is becoming more durable.

3. AI-led Productivity Transformation
Enterprise SaaS, vertical AI, and automation platforms are redefining cost structures. “India has a deep talent advantage and large training datasets. We will see many AI-native applications emerge from here.”

4. Infrastructure for the Next Billion
Digital and physical infrastructure businesses are reshaping access to finance, health, and internet services. Portfolio companies such as Rupeek, CureBay, and Wiom reflect this long-term behavioural shift.

Healthcare delivery, climate-tech infrastructure, and AI-native services, she believes, sit at the intersection of demographic, regulatory, and technological tailwinds.

Partnership Beyond Capital: The LetsTransport Example

BII positions itself as an extension of founding teams. Swati cites LetsTransport as an example.

Beyond capital support, BII was involved in:

• Strengthening senior leadership hiring

• Refining margin tracking and improving working capital cycles

• Strategising new growth curves including product and geography expansion

By institutionalising financial reporting cadence and aligning growth with contribution economics, the company materially improved its gross margins and reduced burn multiple.

“Value creation in venture is often less about dramatic pivots and more about disciplined execution at scale,” she notes.

The journey eventually led to LetsTransport finding a new home within Bertelsmann Next, a platform for emerging businesses under the global Bertelsmann umbrella.

Institution-Grade vs Fast-Scaling Startups

Swati rejects the idea that scale and sustainability are mutually exclusive.

“A decade ago, capital abundance often rewarded growth without proportional governance or margins. Today, founders are building institution-grade companies earlier.”

Independent boards, internal controls, long-term incentive alignment, and structured oversight are becoming more common.

India has produced scale. The next frontier, she argues, is sustained profitability and global competitiveness at scale.

The Bertelsmann Ecosystem Advantage

Being part of a global platform provides more than capital.

“Bertelsmann brings operating memory across decades and geographies,” she says. Founders gain access to:

• Institutional governance playbooks

• Cross-border pattern recognition

• Strategic networks across media, services, and education

This becomes especially valuable as companies transition from product-market fit to multi-market execution, large funding rounds, or IPO preparation.

The Funding Reset: From Velocity to Durability

The recent market recalibration has, in her view, strengthened the ecosystem.

Capital efficiency is now discussed proactively at board level. Burn multiples are evaluated strategically. Governance maturity is being embedded earlier, with independent directors and stronger finance leadership joining companies before scale stress emerges.

“Governance is no longer seen as a constraint. It is increasingly understood as a value multiplier.”

The ecosystem, she believes, has shifted from velocity obsession to durability orientation.

Structural Shifts India Needs Next

For India to produce more category-defining companies, Swati outlines four structural levers:

• Deeper domestic institutional participation in private markets

• R&D and IP incentives for deep-tech and AI-native innovation

• Regulatory clarity in emerging sectors like fintech and climate

• Public market evolution with smoother listing pathways and broader growth equity participation

“Category-defining companies will emerge at the intersection of AI, infrastructure, and domestic consumption scale. Structural support can accelerate that into global leadership.”

Advice on Conviction and Long-Term Thinking

Her closing reflection is grounded.

“Conviction comes from doing the unglamorous work. Stress-testing assumptions. Mapping competitive endgames. Being intellectually honest about downside risk.”

Resilience, she says, is structural preparation. Companies that design for healthy unit economics, prudent capital buffers, and governance discipline bend during cycles but do not break.

“Capital markets are cyclical. Value creation is secular. If you optimise for valuation headlines, you chase momentum. If you optimise for durable value creation, you build institutions.”

In venture, she concludes, substance compounds. Speed helps, but only when direction is right.