Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran plans to invest in precision manufacturing cos

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s venture capital firm Catamaran plans to expand its portfolio by investing in precision manufacturing startups, which can export and make components in deep tech, and automobiles, a senior company official has said.

While speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the Digital Acceleration and Transformation Expo (DATE), Catamaran Chairman MD Ranganath on Friday said the valuation expectation in startups have come down in India compared to 2022, but good ideas with good business models will continue to attract investments.

“Our current focus, in addition to services, is on precision manufacturing. Now, India is attracting a lot of manufacturing investments. We are trying to invest in those companies which can export and make components in deep tech, and automobiles,” Ranganath said.

Catamaran has invested in companies like SpaceX, deep-tech energy startup Log 9, B2B e-commerce firm udaan, edtech firm udemy, and fintech firm Acko, among others.

“Overall, in a market compared to 2022, the valuation expectations are down, but finally, what we are betting is on the business model, the relevance of the company for the market. We are very confident that whatever investments we have made are right bets,” Ranganath said.