Rathnakar Samavedam of Hyderabad Angels Fund on Identifying Scalable Startups, Navigating Funding Cycles, and Shaping India’s Early-Stage Investment Landscape

StartupTalky presents Recap'25, a series of exclusive interviews where we connect with founders and industry leaders to reflect on their journey in 2025 and discuss their vision for the future.

India’s startup investment landscape is undergoing a reset as founders shift toward disciplined growth, sharper unit economics, and AI-driven execution. In this evolving environment, funds are rethinking how they identify scalable businesses, assess quality of revenue, and support companies navigating tight capital conditions. Hyderabad Angels Fund (HAF), one of India’s active early-stage investors, has been closely tracking these shifts across sectors—from deep tech and consumer-led models to emerging themes in AI adoption and cross-border growth.

In this edition of Recap’25, StartupTalky speaks with Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam, Investment Director & Managing Partner at Hyderabad Angels Fund (HAF), who reflects on a defining year for early-stage investing. He shares the key signals that helped identify high-potential portfolio companies, the realities of the funding landscape, and the behavioural shifts among founders. Mr. Samavedam also discusses how AI has become a non-negotiable lever for growth, the sectors that outperformed expectations, and the trends shaping capital deployment in 2026. With deep insights on profitability, market timing, founder discipline, and portfolio transitions, he outlines what entrepreneurs must prioritise in the year ahead.

StartupTalky: Looking back at 2025, what signals helped you identify which portfolio companies would scale well and which ones needed course correction?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: 2025 as an air for portfolio companies is tough unless you’re crossed a critical mass of customer base most of this attributed to market timing and found a clear execution what we understand, especially in case of DTC brand Fintech we observed the area are becoming crowded resulting customer acquisition cost much higher. One of the key things, HAF is looking is what is the startup which is able to deliver better quality revenue with lesser capital is what attracted us and the same is getting thought to the portfolio funds today. We requested our portfolio founders to focus on those verticals where revenue growth is much higher than those verticals which are not providing revenue growth. Most of the founders are doing mistake trying to enter into a new vertical new market, where there is no growth. This is what HAF the given shape to these founders in terms of Profitability, better written on employed and managing with market expectations.

StartupTalky: What was the biggest shift you noticed in India’s startup ecosystem this year in terms of funding, valuations, founder behaviour, or market demand?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: In terms of 2025, when it started market was saying startups are going through a funding winter, we expected 2025 will change its course in terms of funding winter to deploying capital in good startups which are able to show good revenue growth. We observed two things in 2025 in terms of early stage investments that is precede and seed most of the investments, maintain emerging tech like space, tech and robotics, which are in deep tech domain, and in terms of major funding it has gone to those companies which has reached critical scale, especially those are across the avenue 50 cross the startup, which was locked in between 1 to 50 crores had a tough time in raising money resulting frustration valuation, lower awareness and closedowns, etc. The angels which are investing in the space also slowed down a lot resulting lawyer money and most of them moved into fund structures today we see restaurant going to continue in 2026 also on top of it we observed change in HAF rules in angel funding well father hamper availability of money at seed stage.

StartupTalky: How did AI change the kind of startups you backed in 2025?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: One of the biggest change,  in 2025 year, open AI tools and it has become a critical component for any startup to succeed when it comes to HAF we are backing those startups which adopted AI for growth and revenue than investing on those AI startup which are working on efficiency of the expenditure today as a fund we don’t invest in those founders or not adapting AI as a key component for running the company

StartupTalky: Which sector or theme grew faster than you expected this year?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: We observed consumer lead growth has done much faster, compared to other startups. We have seen mostly in deep tech space, a faster growth in terms of funding compared to any segment or sector in 2025. The momentum was majorly built because the other segment growth has slowed down compared to previous years.

StartupTalky: What early trends or market signals make you optimistic about 2026?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: 2026 we are saying Indian cross border says deep tech in manufacturing space tech continue to rule the roost.

StartupTalky: In 2025, many startups focused on profitability and discipline.

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: Most of the founders tried their best to turn the company into profitability and continue to show momentum on the revenue, but it is a more sit ahead. If they’re focussing on profitability revenue dropped, if revenue is growing profitability is not reachable. Only a fraction of startups are able to achieve both revenue growth and profitability. Somebody focussed on profitability. Somebody focussed on profitability not able to grow as become like a run of the milk companies affected their valuation. Somebody has grown revenue, but not able to sustain profitability has closed down their organizations. We see this is a rare from but given a direction to the funds where to focus how to focus and which founders can transition well.

StartupTalky: Which portfolio company showed the strongest jump in product-market fit this year?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: One of our portfolio company planet Park, which is in attic space not able to raise large money has managed the transition very well. They were growing at a decent space of 25% to 30% on year with reducing loss and near to evicts positive. Majorly this was possible with the AI adoption bringing an efficiency and improving the output. This was well executed, and it is able to raise next round comfortable.

StartupTalky: What is one clear, actionable advice you would give founders entering 2026?

Mr. Rathnakar Samavedam: 2026 is more defining year for founders as it has shown path during Q4 2025 as good number of starters got listed and they were able to manage growth very effectively and given a path for next level founders a way to manage the growth of the clear thing people like this second layer team raising of money was never been an issue. Timing is rightly made, and metrics are well defined. We personally feel and our companies will have a good runway, good growth and great opportunity for investors to see decent returns.

Explore more Recap'25 interviews here.