India to offer many opportunities for next 500 mn users: Prosus' Sharma

Prosus, the Amsterdam-based technology investor with net assets valued at over $200 billion spanning payments to ecommerce, has identified India as one of its most critical growth markets, and is increasing its strategic investments here.

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The company, which backs Swiggy, Meesho, and PayU, is deploying more than 20,000 artificial intelligence (AI) agents globally to scale operations and enhance portfolio company performance. In a video interview with Peerzada Abrar, Ashutosh Sharma, who heads Prosus’s India ecosystem, discusses the firm’s recent investments in mobility and travel, its proprietary AI capabilities, and why he believes India's market heterogeneity will spawn multiple winners across consumption segments. Edited excerpts:

Even if you look at them on a standalone basis, these are amazing companies. Prosus chief executive officer (CEO) Fabricio Bloisi recently highlighted the growth that Rapido is seeing in the mobility space. Based on the number of rides per day, Rapido probably is the largest mobility provider despite starting last.

Similarly, ixigo has accreted market share over the last three-four years. Today, it's probably the second-largest OTA (online travel aggregator) in India. Extremely product-led company, extremely high NPS (net promoter score) that you see among customers.

If you look at the large discretionary spend that a consumer does in India, we almost have access to most of that. Food — we invested in Swiggy. Groceries — we are in quick commerce (qcom). Home services — Urban Company; e-commerce (ecom) — we are in Meesho. But mobility and travel were missing pieces in our portfolio.