Client Showcase - Vidura Capital

Named after one of the pivotal characters of Mahabharata, Vidura Capital aspires to stand true to its name - as the voice of reason and wisdom in the investment banking space. The team of Vidura Capital strives to embody the great advisor’s proficiency, sincerity,and trustworthiness.
 
Vidura Capital was founded in 2015 by Sameer AH after his experience with ICICI Securities for over 8 years. While with ICICI Securities, he worked on many large deals for corporate clients and honed his expertise in that area. But after a while, he noticed that the corporate landscape was changing with many emerging start-ups by professionals turned entrepreneurs. 
He recognised this as an opportunity as these firms would eventually need funding and need professional financial help in order to achieve their business growth plans. So, he set up Vidura Capital to help fast-growing companies early in their life-cycle as there were not many players in the market who could offer superior quality investment banking services for deal sizes less than INR 200 Crores. 
Thus began Vidura’s journey specialised in offering end to end deal-making services. Vidura Capital has two products: Raising Private Equity and Venture Capital from institutional investors and Mergers and Acquisitions. 
 
Vidura Capital is also one of our clients at FlexiBees, having hired a part-time and remote-working Office Manager to help them with their many administrative tasks. 
So we recently caught up with Sameer A H, Founder and Managing Director of Vidura Capital to understand their business; and to know what worked well for them and why they choose to hire flexible talent. Sameer shared his views and opinions candidly in a rather lively conversation. 
 
Some excerpts:
 
Can you tell us a bit about what you do - especially for the non-financial folk?To put it simply, our company is focused on two products:  Help companies raise equity from institutional investors. We act as advisors in this process and are involved in end-to-end deal making. Secondly, Mergers and acquisitions - One company acquiring another company. Or two companies coming together to merge. We officiate the process and advise the companies about pricing, risks, etc.
 
How did it all start? How did you think of this need?
With emerging start-ups by professionals turned entrepreneurs, I assessed that there would be a lot of fast-growing organizations that would need this kind of help. And large investment banks focus on large deals, say INR 250 crores and above. It is hard for smaller companies to get good quality investment banking advice. That is how the idea took shape. I wanted to help good quality companies in their early stages. The opportunity then is in maintaining the relationship and growing with those organizations and advise them on their larger deals, down the road. When I shared this idea with my ex-colleague Karuna, she found it exciting enough to join me in this journey.  
 
When did you start seeing success?
In terms of business development traction, we started getting business almost immediately. But to close substantially sized deals, it took about one and half years after starting. Deal-making is a long process and deals do tend to stretch beyond anticipated timelines. 
For one of our clients, the first deal that we closed was for INR 25 Crores. Around a year later, we closed INR 65 crores deal for the same client. Fast-growing companies tend to hit the fund-raising market in quick succession and hence there is an opportunity for life-cycle investment banking, accumulating to over a hundred million dollars, although the first couple of engagements may be for smaller deal sizes. 
For another client, we started our journey by closing the INR 16 Crores deal.  Later, in less than a year, we advised them for a deal worth INR 61 Crores. 
 
What makes Vidura Capital different?
I think our team and the cumulative expertise and experience that we bring to the table is what truly differentiates us. All of us in the team have experience closing much larger deals and this helps us use the same approach, and attention to detail when dealing with our clients today. In our model, the strong competency that is available to larger organizations is made accessible to smaller organizations.
 
We also differentiate ourselves by being nimble. We are very responsive to client needs and turnaround things rapidly. In other words, we are able to cut out the bureaucracy. 
 
Can you share one success story?
For one of our clients, we have closed 8 deals! This is a rare feat for any investment banking firm. This demonstrates the potential to grow with the client provided one delivers good quality outcomes for the client. 
 
Another notable mention is the money we have raised for lending companies in the post-pandemic world. It was not easy to raise capital right after the pandemic during uncertain times. But we have been lucky to close multiple deals. 
 
What is the one principle you hold close to your heart?
We always put our clients first - in every sense of the word. It is always clients' interest above our own. We are who we are because of our clients. 
 
You have hired a candidate from FlexiBees, in a part-time, remote working capacity. What benefits have you received from this arrangement? How did it help your business?
I felt a need for it during the pandemic. There was a lot of coordination that needed to be done. I didn’t want our client servicing to take a backseat because of the remote working. We really needed an administrative manager to coordinate with the stakeholders.
 
As a fellow entrepreneur, I called Shreya and asked for advice. She told me about the benefits of hiring a flexible talent resource - which includes high-quality, experienced, and ability to deliver from day one. 
 
I was convinced and wanted to try it out. As the role did not require minute by minute fire-fighting, I was okay with a flexible schedule. As long as the overall purpose is being served, flexible timings align very well with our way of working.
 
It has been really promising so far! I am very confident that this will be a fruitful and long association. 
 
If you are an organisation looking for investment banking support for your capital raising or M&A deals of deal sizes INR 50 Crores or higher, do reach out to Vidura Capital for their expertise: click here