ET Soonicorns Sundowner in Hyderabad sets the table for India’s product-first startup future

“Hyderabad is like biryani—slow-cooked overnight, flavourful. That’s how businesses should be built; not rushed, but carefully over time,” said Dr. Raj P. Narayanam, Founder and Executive Chairman of fintech platform Zaggle, setting the tone for what would become a candid, thought-provoking, and richly insightful panel discussion on the rise of product-first startups from India’s emerging innovation hub.

This defining panel discussion—‘Built in Hyderabad: The Rise of India’s Product-First Startups’—was the centrepiece of the inaugural ET Soonicorns Sundowner in Hyderabad, held on 31 July 2025. The event marked the debut of a new after-hours format by The Economic Times, designed to spotlight regional startup ecosystems with high-growth potential. As a high-energy spin-off from the flagship ET Soonicorns Summit, which is returning to Bengaluru for its fourth edition on 22 August 2025, the Sundowner series now sets the tone for India’s next wave of unicorn contenders.

Moderated by Deepak Ajwani, Editor of EconomicTimes.com, the panel brought together a strong lineup of founders and investors: Dr. Raj Narayanam of Zaggle, GV Keshav Reddy, Founder of Equal and Board Member at Reddy Ventures, Prasad Vanga, Founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures, Sandeep Maheshwari – Senior Fund Manager, 360 ONE Asset, and Kavikrut, CEO of T-Hub.

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Dr. Raj Narayanam, Founder, Zaggle , GV Keshav Reddy, Founder, Equal & Board Member, Reddy Ventures, Prasad Vanga, Founder & CEO, Anthill Ventures, Sandeep Maheshwari, Senior Fund Manager, 360 ONE Asset, Kavikrut, CEO, T-Hub, Moderated by Deepak Ajwani, Editor of EconomicTimes.com

The Hyderabad effect: From choice to conviction
The evening kicked off with a pointed question from Ajwani: Why Hyderabad?

GV Keshav Reddy, Founder of Equal and Board Member at Reddy Ventures, who shifted his data-tech startup Equal to Hyderabad from Mumbai, answered without hesitation: “Hyderabad, without a doubt, is the best city to live in right now. We brought 81 of our 100 people from Bombay (Mumbai), Delhi, and Bangalore (Bengaluru). Many are from Bangalore. You just book them a ticket, show them the office, and they stay.”

He attributed this migration to a potent combination: purpose, culture, a lower cost of living, and a fast-maturing ecosystem.
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Prasad Vanga, Founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures

Prasad Vanga, Founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures, whose venture fund Anthill was one of the first to back startups out of T-Hub nearly a decade ago, shared a personal anecdote: “I thought we’d return to Bangalore from the US. But my wife won—her parents are in Hyderabad. That’s how we landed here. A decade later, we’re still here. There’s real camaraderie in this ecosystem.”
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Dr. Raj P. Narayanam, Founder and Executive Chairman of Zaggle

For Dr. Raj P. Narayanam, Founder and Executive Chairman of Zaggle, the move was strategic: “My uncle offered me an entire floor for my office, in exchange for some equity. We built a large team in Bangalore, but came back. Hyderabad gives you the quiet focus to build in stealth. Revenue is the goal, not just noise.”

Talent, deep tech, and the new age of AI
The conversation widened from anecdotes to ecosystem dynamics.
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Kavikrut, CEO of T-Hub

Kavikrut, CEO of T-Hub, framed it as a national opportunity: “This isn’t a zero-sum game between cities. For India to succeed, we need 100 Bangalores and Hyderabads. But what makes Hyderabad unique is talent. We’ve exported the best tech minds globally. Now’s the time to bring them back.”

Kavikrut cited Hyderabad’s rising influence in AI, defence, and aerospace. “We have top universities, big tech offices—Apple, Alexa, Microsoft—and a deep talent pool. The concentration of Fortune 2000 companies is rising. We’re at an inflection point.”
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Sandeep Maheshwari – Senior Fund Manager, 360 ONE Asset

Sandeep Maheshwari – Senior Fund Manager, 360 ONE Asset, echoed this from an investor’s lens: “The ecosystem has matured beautifully. We’re particularly bullish on defence and space. DRDO labs, PSUs, private innovators—Hyderabad is positioned like no other.”

On the flipside of this momentum, however, is the volatility of artificial intelligence (AI) cycles.

“Engineers expect you to ride every wave. Investors, too,” said Dr. Narayanam. “But I never believed in ‘fail fast’ or ‘scale fast’. My mantra has always been: stay close to the customer. Customers cut through the noise.”

He admitted the AI downcycle has worked in his favour. “In 2021-22, it was chaos. We lost great talent. Now we’re acquiring solid companies at a good value. Hyderabad helps—less hype, more substance.”

Maheshwari was blunt about the investment lens: “One OpenAI release can wipe out 20,000 startups. The only real moat today is customer love, or regulatory ones like licenses. Application-layer AI is easy to prototype but hard to productionise.”

T-Hub’s Kavikrut agreed. “We tell founders: benchmark globally. The best teams—such as Pulse, which builds product agents—have clarity and resilience. That mindset is what early-stage investors should back.”

The value of adaptability and patience
Ajwani steered the panel into familiar, yet vital territory: what not to do.

Vanga said, “Don’t follow the hype cycle. Go against the grain. The truly successful founders are often the ones going the other way.”

Maheshwari added, “Adaptability is a high-value trait. Almost every founder we’ve seen succeed has pivoted. The ‘what’ remains, but the ‘how’ changes.”

Kavikrut expanded on this: “We actually look for founders who’ve pivoted and stayed in the game. It shows mental resilience—often more valuable than capital.”

Dr. Narayanam brought in a hard-won perspective: “If I had to do it again, I’d focus on small niches. You stay under the radar; VCs don’t see the TAM, so they ignore you. That’s where you build quietly, constantly pivoting.”

Reddy added: “We pivoted three times in three years—first personal data, then health, then financial services. Now, we power a billion transactions. Most people don’t even know they’re using us.”

So, what wins—scale or sustainability?
Vanga responded with nuance: “It depends. High-scale, low-revenue businesses must chase scale. But if you’re building with good margins, you lean towards sustainability.”

Reddy summed it up succinctly: “The right answer is sustainable scale.”

India needs its own capital model
Ajwani closed with a hard-hitting dilemma: When founders want to play long and VCs push for speed, who blinks first?

Maheshwari replied with a laugh: “Honestly, I’d like to blink first. But this depends on the stage. VC money is meant for scale. Traditional investors expecting instant profit derail founders. It becomes a lifestyle business. That’s not how this works.”

Dr. Narayanam added, “India needs patient capital. But it doesn’t exist. The VC model is imported. We need an India-specific version. Sometimes you need to spend ₹10 to earn ₹1, and that’s a hard pill for investors.”

He credited early disrupters: “Tiger Global and Lee Fixel changed the game. They wrote the big cheques that others hesitated to. That’s what changed our ecosystem.”

A city with the right ingredients
If one theme defined the session, it was this: Hyderabad has emerged as a serious contender in deep innovation. Its product-first culture, engineering discipline, and rising investor confidence signal a shift that could shape India’s startup story over the next decade.

And as the ET Soonicorns Sundowner series suggests, this is only the beginning. The Hyderabad edition has set a high bar for upcoming Sundowners in Gurugram and Mumbai—expanding the franchise of the ET Soonicorns Summit, returning on 22 August 2025.

With a room full of changemakers, candid debates, and a renewed call for patient capital and deep IP, the Hyderabad Sundowner offered a glimpse into what its next startup frontier might truly look like. Just like its biryani—layered, slow-cooked, and rich with flavour, this ecosystem isn’t about fast burn but lasting impact.

360 One is the presenting partner of the ET Soonicorns Summit 2025. T-Hub is the ecosystem partner of the ET Soonicorns Sundowner 2025 Hyderabad edition.

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