A royal family’s billion-dollar bet on Indian startups—without a winner

Lightrock arrived in India with nearly a billion dollars and royal backing — the Liechtenstein dynasty's centuries-old fortune funding bets on around 40 growth-stage startups. The firm moved fast, doubled down on existing investments more aggressively than most peers, and scaled hard during the zero-interest-rate boom. Then the cycle turned. Its portfolio — Waycool, Pharmeasy, Dunzo — ran into trouble. New cheques dried up. Lightrock shifted from investor to caretaker, managing what it had rather than building what came next. A royal wager on Indian tech, still waiting for a payoff. Tune in. *This episode was originally published on 24th April 2026. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe ( https://the-ken.com/pricing/ ) for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories. Daybreak Episode 782 June 29, 2026 ★ Episode details: https://share.transistor.fm/s/2f04dda0 ★ Additional episodes: https://the-ken.com/podcasts/daybreak/