India is one of our most important markets: Nigel Morris, cofounder of QED
Mumbai: Nigel Morris, cofounder and managing partner of financial services-focused venture capital firm QED Investors, said Indian disposable income is growing rapidly, making it the best time for financial services growth.
Morris said the QED, regardless of whether prices are up or down, is bullish in this area, when asked about an impending slowdown in funding. Founded by Morris and Frank Rotman in 2007, QED began as a family office, but later transformed into a VC fund. QED, initially funded through internal capital, has supported some of the largest fintech startups globally. such as Remitly and SoFi in America, Klarna in Europe and Nubank in Brazil.
Morris said in an exclusive interview to ET, “It is clear that there has been a significant cooling off in the public market in the US, which is affecting the private market. “It’s going to roll all the way down, and then it’ll come back again, because basically, we’re in the middle of a series of secular moves that are going on in our industry.”
According to Morris, India is one of the most important markets for the firm outside the US, with positive macroeconomic growth, the mobile revolution, favorable regulatory regime and talent galore. QED opened shop in India last year.
Morris, who founded and sold Capital One, a consumer-focused lending firm in the US, was on the Forbes Midas Touch list in 2022.
QED has positioned itself as a multi-chain investor for capital infusion in pre-seed/seed, Series A/B and growth phases. It writes checks starting at less than $1 million and goes up to $40-50 million to support companies in the fintech sector.
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The firm has already invested $150 million in India since last year. These are spread across neo-bank Jupiter, earned wage access provider Refine, open finance firm Upswing, fintech startup FPL Technologies, which operates digital credit score platform OneScore and edu-fintech startup FinancePeer.
In September 2021, QED closed a $1.05 billion fund consisting of a $550 million Fund VII and a $500 million Growth Fund. Globally, the fund has invested in over 175 companies in 14 countries. Most of its portfolio is in the US.
It hopes to get down the fundraising road again next year, as long as it deploys its existing pool of capital. “We will raise a new global fund sometime next year,” Morris said.
He declined to specify how much the firm would invest in India, but said the sector remains an important market.
The firm is looking to increase its presence in India by expanding its investment team. “We will have an important team here on the field, focused on Southeast Asia and South Asia in general. But whether it will be here in Mumbai, Bengaluru or Singapore, it is to be decided,” he said.
Morris said the firm will also venture into Web 3.0 and the crypto sector. “We are evaluating this space carefully. We cannot be first and foremost when it comes to investing in the sector. But we will wait to see how it plays out,” he said.
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