Kanwal rekhi biography
Tech IPOs flopped due to overvaluation by investors: Kanwal Rekhi
Kanwal Rekhi, technology entrepreneur and founding member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was among the first Silicon Valley-based Indian-American founders to take smart ethernet cardmaker Excelan public on NASDAQ in 1987. The company later merged with Novell.
Currently the Managing Director and Co-founder of venture capital firm Inventus Capital Partners, and a storied angel investor, Kanwal pins the blame on inflated valuations by private market investors for the declines in newly listed technology stocks.
“All the IPOs have flopped, and the reason they flopped was that the valuations were set by investors and not based on performance,” Kanwal told YourStory on the sidelines of the recently concluded TiE Global Summit 2022. "They (valuations) were based on how much money you were raising. We need to build companies that are more robust and profitable and let the market value them."
Last year not only saw a rush of startups emerge as unicorns—tech companies deemed to be worth at least $1 billion—but also several mature ones embracing the public markets, providing a coveted exit path for investors that hadn't been broached much until then.
Paytm, Zomato, Nykaa, and PolicyBazaar—a portfolio company of Inventus—all debuted on the Indian public market in 2021, and have since seen their stocks trading 41% to 60% below their issue prices.
The current depressed macroeconomic factors have forced other venture-backed startups, including PharmEasy and boAt, to postpone their public listings.
Kanwal said that investors, including the likes of SoftBank and Tiger Global that have had a significant influence on India's startup ecosystem, were responsible for the inflated valuations, leading to a depreciation in their portfolio value.
“Investors are not stupid people; Son San (Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group Corp.) and Tiger Global were. Investors a Kanwal Singh Rekhi (born August 29, 1945) (Punjabi : ਕੰਵਲ ਰੇਖੀ) is an Indian-American businessman. He was the first Indian-American founder and CEO to... Pakistani politician Kanwal Rekhi, Indian–American businessman Kanwal Shauzab, Pakistani politician Kanwal Sibal, Indian diplomat Kanwal Singh Chauhan, Indian... educator Bhakta B. Rath, material physicist and Padma Bhushan recipient Kanwal Rekhi, businessman and entrepreneurship promoter in Silicon Valley Damian Rhodes... Computing, which was created in 2019. Funded by the donation of Kanwal and Ann Rekhi, the facility opened in 2005. Providing several new classrooms and... security features needed in the modern enterprise." Novell acquired Kanwal Rekhi's company Excelan in 1989; Excelan manufactured smart Ethernet cards and... industrialist of Indian descent Kamel Hothi, former banker at Lloyds Bank Kanwal Rekhi, one of the first Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley Kuldip Singh... Excelan was a computer networking company founded in 1982 by Kanwal Rekhi, Inder Singh and Navindra Jain. Excelan was a manufacturer of smart Ethernet... 2013. Prabhu Goel Research Centre For Computer & Internet Security http://www.security.iitk.ac.in/ Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology, IIT-B... managing director of the Bharti group Aroon Purie, India Today group Kanwal Rekhi, one of the first Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley Manjit Bawa... Bharat Desai 1975 B.Tech. (Electrical Engineering) Founder of Syntel Kanwal Rekhi 1967 B.Tech. (Electrical Engineering) Venture capitalist; Co-founder... Flood Insurance is a popular choice among users who want to try new experiences....Kanwal Rekhi
Kanwal Rekhi
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Flood Insurance
Kanwal Rekhi
Indian-American businessman (born 1945)
Kanwal Singh Rekhi (born August 29, 1945) (Punjabi : ਕੰਵਲ ਰੇਖੀ) is an Indian-American businessman. He was the first Indian-American founder and CEO to take a venture-backed company public on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Career
Rekhi had worked as an engineer, systems analyst, and manager before venturing into entrepreneurship. At the age of 36, he moved to San Jose, California and co-founded Excelan in 1982, a manufacturer of smart Ethernet components, and was named president and CEO in 1985. The company went public on the Nasdaq in 1987, and merged with Novell in 1989. He remained at Novell as an executive vice-president and the -chief technology officer of the company, later joining the board of directors. Rekhi retired from Novell in 1995. After leaving Novell, he was the CEO at CyberMedia from January 1998 until its merger with Network Associates (now McAfee) in September 1998.
In 1994, Rekhi became a full-time angel investor, investing in more than 50 startups, of which he led the initial financing and was a member of the board of directors for 23 companies. His venture financings have resulted in 21 exits including six IPOs to date. Also active in Indian public policy related to venture, Rekhi advised India government policy makers in reforming venture regulations. This encouraged fund formation in India, and Rekhi was the founding limited partner behind Infinity Capital-India a successful early-stage India venture fund.
In 2007, Rekhi co-founded Inventus Capital Partners, and currently serves as managing director. During his time at Inventus, he has .