Key Takeaways
- • Mayank Kachhwaha, General Partner at The Fundamentum Partnership, says product-market fit is best identified by repeatability, marking the start of the scale-up phase, according to an interview with Indian Startup Times.
- • Kachhwaha, who spent about seven years building IndiaLends and studied mechanical engineering at IIT Madras, says a strong Series B leadership team and basic systems such as financial reporting and governance are critical growth-stage evaluation criteria.
- • At the growth stage, Kachhwaha values founder resilience and first-principles thinking, and says organisational gaps or heavy dependence on a single individual are warning signs that may cause investors to revisit an opportunity later.
- • Kachhwaha values valuation work anchored in public comparables and base-case return underwriting, with revenue multiples informing but not determining the assessment.
- • Kachhwaha is optimistic about India's startup ecosystem, citing digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar, India Stack and UPI, and calls for greater participation from domestic capital.
Summary
In an interview with Indian Startup Times, Mayank Kachhwaha, General Partner at The Fundamentum Partnership, outlined his approach to evaluating scalable startups and his view of India's growth capital landscape. Kachhwaha previously spent around seven years building IndiaLends before moving into venture capital. He studied mechanical engineering at IIT Madras and worked at Capital One in the United States before returning to India to start his company. He said his transition into venture capital was not planned and was drawn by the opportunity to build a venture firm alongside experienced leaders, including Nandan and Sanjeev.
Kachhwaha identifies repeatability as one of the clearest indicators of product-market fit. According to him, once a company's customer acquisition costs, unit economics and market size become predictable, it can shift from experimentation toward scaling a repeatable model. He stressed that product-market fit is only one part of the process, and that companies must also build the organisational capabilities needed for the next phase.
At the growth stage, Kachhwaha places significant weight on the founder's ability to understand customers, learn quickly and adapt, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes markets. He also emphasises the quality of the leadership team reporting directly to the founder, which he considers an important part of Series B evaluation. Financial reporting, governance and defined processes become increasingly important as informal methods prove insufficient. He flags leadership churn and dependence on a single individual as warning signs, and said investors may revisit an opportunity once a business has strengthened its internal processes.
On valuation, Kachhwaha said he compares companies with public-market peers, assesses potential value under continued growth, and works backward to determine whether the entry price can deliver the returns investors are underwriting under a reasonable base case. Revenue multiples may inform the assessment, but exit paths and long-term profitability also matter.
Looking ahead five to ten years, Kachhwaha is optimistic about India's startup ecosystem, pointing to improved founder experience, logistics and delivery networks, and digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar, India Stack and UPI. He noted growing ambition among founders in deep technology and artificial intelligence who are building for global markets. He said more growth capital would benefit the ecosystem and called for greater participation from domestic capital, through funds or direct investment, to help Indian companies scale to larger size over the long term.
Kachhwaha identifies repeatability as one of the clearest indicators of product-market fit. According to him, once a company's customer acquisition costs, unit economics and market size become predictable, it can shift from experimentation toward scaling a repeatable model. He stressed that product-market fit is only one part of the process, and that companies must also build the organisational capabilities needed for the next phase.
At the growth stage, Kachhwaha places significant weight on the founder's ability to understand customers, learn quickly and adapt, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes markets. He also emphasises the quality of the leadership team reporting directly to the founder, which he considers an important part of Series B evaluation. Financial reporting, governance and defined processes become increasingly important as informal methods prove insufficient. He flags leadership churn and dependence on a single individual as warning signs, and said investors may revisit an opportunity once a business has strengthened its internal processes.
On valuation, Kachhwaha said he compares companies with public-market peers, assesses potential value under continued growth, and works backward to determine whether the entry price can deliver the returns investors are underwriting under a reasonable base case. Revenue multiples may inform the assessment, but exit paths and long-term profitability also matter.
Looking ahead five to ten years, Kachhwaha is optimistic about India's startup ecosystem, pointing to improved founder experience, logistics and delivery networks, and digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar, India Stack and UPI. He noted growing ambition among founders in deep technology and artificial intelligence who are building for global markets. He said more growth capital would benefit the ecosystem and called for greater participation from domestic capital, through funds or direct investment, to help Indian companies scale to larger size over the long term.
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