Naspers bullish on food delivery, classifieds, fintech: Bob van Dijk
NEW DELHI: Naspers will continue to bet on India, a market that has emerged as one of the most lucrative landscapes for the global strategic investor, which has pumped in over $2 billion in Asia’s third-largest economy till date.
Naspers, which recorded a $2.2 billion exit from Flipkart, India’s largest domestic online retailer, post the latter’s acquisition by Walmart earlier this year, will continue to allocate significant amounts of capital to ventures operating across three segments primarily — food delivery, classifieds and fin-tech — according to chief executive Bob van Dijk.
“If you look backwards, we have spent about $2 billion over the years, and that’s big part of our overall investments…Historically, we have spent a good chunk of our investment money into the Indian market,” van Dijk said, adding, “It could be much higher or lower…It’s been about 20% over the last 10 years, but much higher over the last few years.”
The Naspers CEO was speaking to reporters during the Johannesburg-based company’s three-day annual summit that is being held in Delhi. The event has saw the gathering of the company’s top leadership, including, Basil Sgourdos, the group chief financial officer of Naspers, and Larry Illg, head of Naspers Ventures, along with its significant representation of its portfolio globally.
Van Dijk also took the example of Flipkart, a company in which the global internet and entrainment company had first invested in 2012, pumping in $612 million in the latter over the years, before exiting in May earlier this year. “We earned spectacular returns from Flipkart, a company that started from nothing in this country, by a group of Indian founders, and that’s what we do. 32% annual returns is no shame. Stock markets give you 6%-7%. I’m happy with that,” van Dijk said.
According to Sgourdos, Naspers will continue to double down on its existing portfolio in India, list that includes, food delivery company Swiggy, fin-tech venture PayU India, classifieds company OLX and Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel operator.
“We are backing some sizeable companies in India, and we have ambitions going forward,” Sgourdos said, referring to the possibility of identifying the next big investment that could provide Naspers with its next big payoffs, rivalling its reruns from Tencent, often considered as one of the greatest venture capital bets ever made.
Naspers, which recorded a $2.2 billion exit from Flipkart, India’s largest domestic online retailer, post the latter’s acquisition by Walmart earlier this year, will continue to allocate significant amounts of capital to ventures operating across three segments primarily — food delivery, classifieds and fin-tech — according to chief executive Bob van Dijk.
“If you look backwards, we have spent about $2 billion over the years, and that’s big part of our overall investments…Historically, we have spent a good chunk of our investment money into the Indian market,” van Dijk said, adding, “It could be much higher or lower…It’s been about 20% over the last 10 years, but much higher over the last few years.”
The Naspers CEO was speaking to reporters during the Johannesburg-based company’s three-day annual summit that is being held in Delhi. The event has saw the gathering of the company’s top leadership, including, Basil Sgourdos, the group chief financial officer of Naspers, and Larry Illg, head of Naspers Ventures, along with its significant representation of its portfolio globally.
Van Dijk also took the example of Flipkart, a company in which the global internet and entrainment company had first invested in 2012, pumping in $612 million in the latter over the years, before exiting in May earlier this year. “We earned spectacular returns from Flipkart, a company that started from nothing in this country, by a group of Indian founders, and that’s what we do. 32% annual returns is no shame. Stock markets give you 6%-7%. I’m happy with that,” van Dijk said.
According to Sgourdos, Naspers will continue to double down on its existing portfolio in India, list that includes, food delivery company Swiggy, fin-tech venture PayU India, classifieds company OLX and Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel operator.
“We are backing some sizeable companies in India, and we have ambitions going forward,” Sgourdos said, referring to the possibility of identifying the next big investment that could provide Naspers with its next big payoffs, rivalling its reruns from Tencent, often considered as one of the greatest venture capital bets ever made.