Orios Onboards Former Omidyar Executive Madhav Tandan As A Senior Partner

Early-stage venture capital (VC) firm Orios Venture Partners has onboarded former Omidyar Network India executive Madhav Tandan as a senior partner. 

In a statement, the VC firm said Tandan brings in over 11 years of investing experience and oversaw Omidyar’s investments in DealShare, FarMart, CityMall, IDfy, IntrCity, Spyne, and Tazapay.

After an eight-year stint with Omidyar, where he rose to the position of an investment director, Tandan cofounded early-stage investment firm Escape Velocity in 2022. Earlier this year, the investment firm backed online kidswear startup Includ.

Commenting on his appointment, Tandan said, “Orios is one of India’s earliest VC funds and has built a loved and respected name for itself… They have learnt the India VC business deeply having seen multiple cycles and as this industry is poised to go to the next level, I believe I can bring something special to Indian founders and LPs alongside them.”

Tandan exited Omidyar Network India before the VC announced that it will shut its India operations by 2024. Backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, the investment firm had about $673 Mn cumulative assets under management till July 2023.

Tandan’s appointment comes at a time when Orios has postponed the close of its third fund. Recently, it was reported that the firm postponed the close of the third fund for the second time. The VC firm originally targeted to close its fund at $150 Mn in December 2023, before extending the deadline to June 2024. Now, the firm is expected to mark its final close in December. 

“He (Tandan) is a valuable addition to our investment team as it takes at least a decade of investment experience to become an institutional-class venture investor, simply because this industry is as much about what not to do as much as what to do. Madhav is also extremely well networked in our ecosystem and is well known across the length and breadth of our industry,” Orios managing partner Rehan Yar Khan said on the appointment. 

It is pertinent to note that Orios saw two senior level exits last year. In September, its managing partners Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri left the company to pursue other opportunities

Launched in 2014, Mumbai-headquartered Orios Venture Partners invests in consumer-focussed early stage startups. Its portfolio includes ixigo, Mobikwik, Country Delight, CarDekho, Vedantu, among others.  

Orios’ closed its Select Fund I, set up for making follow-on investments in its portfolio startups, at $30 Mn in June 2021.