Why 90% of Indian AI Startups Will Die (& How to Survive)? | Podcast

In this episode of Backstage With Millionaires, we sit down with Nitin Sharma, co-founder of Antler India, one of the leading early-stage venture capital firms in India. 00:00 Intro 02:43 Why Nitin became a VC? 05:50 Nitin's past experiences 12:58 Why did he start Antler India? 16:17 How to raise funds in India? 22:25 How to identify successful founders? 25:48 2016 founders Vs 2026 Founders 29:55 Indian AI Scene Vs the US 35:58 Antler's AI thesis 39:11 What's Antler's Residency program? 43:33 What's happening outside AI? 46:12 Building for India Vs the world 49:51 Future of big Indian AI startups 51:32 Is Indian Govt doing enough? 52:46 Can VCs predict future? 55:41 Future of Web3 and Crypto in India? 58:48 Future of ONDC 1:01:20 Why to apply at Antler? From early-stage investing at NEA in the US, to founding FirstPrinciples VC with 40+ angel investments, to pioneering Web3 investing in India through Incrypt Blockchain — Nitin has been at the forefront of backing exceptional founders across geographies and stages. We dive deep into: 🔹 Building Antler India and what it means to back founders from the idea stage 🔹 His journey from US venture capital (NEA, Lightbox) to leading India investments 🔹 The "Build from India, for the world" thesis 🔹 Early-stage investing lessons and what separates great founders from good ones 🔹 Web3, blockchain, and emerging technology themes he's excited about 🔹 How Antler India is addressing real pain points for pre-seed and seed-stage founders About the Guest: Nitin Sharma is a seasoned investor with 15 years of experience in global venture capital. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School and two degrees from USC. He serves on the India Advisory Boards of AngelList and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and has advised NITI Aayog on frontier tech policy. His notable investments include being amongst the earliest investors in Kutumb, Inspecity, Namma Yatri, HouseEazy, Armory, Inamo, BazaarNow, DodgeAI, Molecule/BIO Protocol, Third Wave Coffee, Juno, Mudrex, Vyapar, Bitespeed, Wingman (acq. By Clari), EverFi (acq. by Blackbaud), OPOWER (IPO, acq. by Oracle), Fynd (acq. by Jio). 🔗 Connect with Nitin: LinkedIn:   / nitinsharma15   Twitter/X: https://x.com/nitinsharma1