Photo of Vishal Gupta, Partner

Vishal Gupta

Partner
India

Biography

Vishal Gupta is a partner based in Bessemer's Bangalore office where he primarily focuses on investments in consumer internet, financial technology, and healthcare technology.

He has led investments and served on boards of companies including Bharat Matrimony (NSE: MATRIMONY), bigbasket, Good Glamm Group, Home First (NSE: HOMEFIRST), Indian Energy Exchange (NSE: IEX), Innoviti, Lentra.ai, LivSpace, MediAssist, MediBuddy, Nephroplus, Perfios, Pharmeasy, Swiggy, TaxiForSure (acquired by Ola), Urban Company, and more. Vishal is passionate about partnering with founders and their companies through the ups and downs of building great businesses. He looks forward to being one of the first investors founders call when they are in need of advice.

Vishal joined Bessemer in 2006 and has supported the company’s investments in Shriram City (NSE: SHRIRAMCIT), Motilal Oswal (NSE: MOTILALOFS), Orient Green Power (IPO), and Shriram EPC (IPO). Prior to joining Bessemer, Vishal worked in the treasury department at the Reliance Group.

Vishal holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. He is a chartered accountant and has a BA in commerce from GS College. He is also a member of Mensa and has been a nationally-ranked table tennis player.

Portfolio Highlights

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Getting to know Vishal

 

three men posed kneeling with urban company backpack
Urban Company Founders: Varun Khaitan, CPTO, Raghav Chandra, CEO, and Abhiraj Bhal, COO

Urban Company

Vishal’s 2015 Series B investment in Urban Company stemmed from a consumer internet roadmap to replace JustDial, India’s phone-based equivalent of Angie’s List. Urban Company stood out for its full-stack solution to home services, which helped customers discover and book high quality local services ranging from home repair to health and wellness. Building a sustainable, repeatable user experience in this notoriously challenging sector was not easy, but, despite these hurdles, the founders were able to develop a services platform that could scale. Today, Urban Company is the largest home services platform in India, delivering a billion dollars worth of services across India and expanding to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and other countries.

Lessons from table tennis

Vishal’s formative years were spent pursuing an unexpected passion: table tennis. He dedicated 15 years playing the sport professionally, from fifth grade through college. His rigorous daily practices and the challenge of moving on from losses fueled Vishal’s determination and taught him valuable lessons about the importance of consistency and perseverance. Although he hasn’t touched a paddle since graduation, he still values dedication, resilience, and continuous improvement, all in which were instilled in him by his experiences playing table tennis.

headshot of man in office
Perfios CEO Sabyasachi Goswami

Revolutionizing lending

While roadmapping the lending industry in India, Vishal and his team found that Perfios was being adopted by traditional financial services and fintech lenders. This discovery led Bessemer to invest in Perfios’ Series A investment in 2017. Perfios was revolutionizing lending with their API- and data-driven underwriting approach that allowed banks and financial companies to deliver loans at the click of a button and dramatically reduce processing times and costs. In just a few years, Perfios made credit more accessible, faster, and cheaper for millions of Indians, and fundamentally changed the lending landscape in the country.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a tech entrepreneur in India. The consumer and enterprise demand is a given. The secret is to figure out how to disrupt the supply so a business can scale with consistency and deliver the best customer experience.”

man speaking on stage with photos in background

Teamwork

Vishal works alongside founders like a fellow team member. As an investor, he seeks out gritty, perservent, and dedicated leaders who prioritize collaboration, rigorous thinking, and clear communication — qualities he believes are fundamental to achieving success. And it’s not just leaders. Recognizing that the backbone of any company is its team, Vishal prioritizes helping founders find and hire the right talent for every stage.

An avid reader

Vishal is often juggling several books at once and making his way through 30 to 40 titles each year. His interests are diverse — he reads philosophy, fiction, and history, and particularly those that focus on the rich history of India and its civilization. One book that holds special significance for him is a commentary on the Indian epic Mahabharata called “Mahabharata: An Enquiry in the Human Condition” by Badrinath Chaturvedi. Vishal frequently revisits its profound insights on one’s place in the world.

Portfolio Companies

Indicates Enduring
Fintech Enterprise India
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Indian Energy Exchange

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) is an India-based automated platform for the physical delivery of electricity.

Indian Energy Exchange became a publically listed company on the National Stock Exchange (NSE: IEX) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE: IEX) in October 2017.

NSE: IEX

Investors

Vishal Gupta

Founded

2007

Partnered

2010

Roadmaps

Enterprise Fintech India

Medi Assist

NSE: MEDIASSIST
Healthcare Enterprise India
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Medi Assist

Medi Assist aims to deliver informed healthcare decisions to a billion lives connected by our technology, partnerships and human touch. Medi Assist became a publicly listed company on the National Stock Exchange (NSE: MEDIASSIST) and Bombay Stock Exchange in January 2024.

NSE: MEDIASSIST

Investors

Vishal Gupta

Founded

2002

Partnered

2011

Roadmaps

Enterprise Healthcare India