Welcome back to Alpha Patr(am) (Gazette), where the monsoon’s last drizzle meets the buzz of global markets.
As September unfolds, India stands at an exciting inflection point – Jefferies notes the country is well-positioned for long-term alpha creation, fueled by resilient domestic demand, strong small- and mid-cap performance, and investor-friendly policies.
From fintech and AI to advanced manufacturing, Indian origin entrepreneurs are turning challenges into opportunities, demonstrating agility, innovation, and global ambition.
In this edition, we spotlight the drive for growth and the spirit of forward-looking enterprise.
Trump’s Tariff War: Opportunities And Roadblocks For Indian VCs And Startups
Our Founder & Managing Partner, Rajul Garg, shares his perspective on Trump’s tariff wars – highlighting how opportunities often emerge when policy and technology shifts make once-unsolved problems suddenly viable – like UPI and demonetisation did for India’s digital payments. Today, AI advances, shifting tariffs, and policy changes are reshaping global markets, opening doors in crypto payments, alt assets as treasury havens, robotics-led automation, and supply chain realignment.
Yet, tighter visa rules, rising protectionism, and volatile policies also raise risks for entrepreneurs. Still, history shows that uncertainty fuels innovation – forcing founders to adapt, survive, and ultimately create the next wave of breakthrough companies.
Beyond Borders: How Leo Capital is Reframing India’s Venture Capital Story
On The One Point Podcast, our Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Shwetank Verma, shared why India should be seen not just as a market but as a global talent engine. With 1.4B people at home and 40M+ in the diaspora, Indian-origin founders and leaders are driving innovation worldwide. For Leo, the thesis is simple: back entrepreneurs who leverage India’s deep talent pool or use it as a springboard for global expansion.
Our portfolio reflects this global mindset — from LambdaTest, scaling AI-driven testing from India to the US, to Atoa Payments, reshaping European merchant payments with Indian fintech insights. As Shwetank notes, “Founders don’t fail. Companies fail. Talent is the constant.” For Leo, betting on that talent — wherever in the world it is — remains the ultimate thesis.
Alpha Picks: Startups Redefining Their Industries
Conversion (San Francisco, USA): Founded by UC Berkeley dropouts Neil Tewari and James Jiao, Conversion raised $28M in a round led by Abstract with participation from True Ventures and HOF Capital. Its AI-native platform automates lead organization and personalized follow-ups that legacy systems can’t manage, with a clear displacement strategy targeting older tools. With strong product-market fit and technical edge, Conversion is poised to become the AI-first default in marketing automation, taking on incumbents in the $30B+ market.
Flexprice (USA): Raised $500K pre-seed led by TDV Partners to build an open-source billing and metering platform for AI and agentic computing. Billing and resource tracking are critical pain points in the AI-first economy, and Flexprice’s plug-and-play stack enables startups to scale faster without reinventing infrastructure. By solving this foundational problem, Flexprice positions itself as a core enabler of the AI ecosystem—a space where Indian-origin founders continue to make a global impact.
Alaan (Dubai, UAE): Raised $48M led by Peak XV Partners to expand in Saudi Arabia and scale its AI-driven spend management platform. Founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs, Alaan is building a globally competitive fintech from the UAE, leveraging AI to automate reconciliation and expense processing—critical pain points in finance operations. With strong backing from a top-tier VC, Alaan is well-positioned to become a category leader in global spend management and highlights how Indian-origin founders are driving financial innovation from emerging hubs like the Middle East.
August (New York, USA): Secured $7M from NEA and Pear VC to expand its AI-powered legal tech for midsize law firms by hiring teams in India to serve the U.S. market. Targeting an underserved segment ripe for transformation, August leverages modular AI agents to automate contract review, diligence, and compliance, offering cost savings and improved accuracy. With backing from tier-1 VCs, the company is well-positioned to become the default AI operating layer for midsize law firms globally, establishing a strong first-mover advantage.