While Australia boasts a substantial pool of savings, India is rapidly emerging as a global growth engine in its nascent stages of a growth cycle. For Akshay Chakrapani, General Partner at Creek Partners, connecting these two economic forces is not just a business opportunity, but a personal mission. His firm is meticulously building a bridge to channel Australian investment into India’s burgeoning venture capital ecosystem, a nexus he believes is ripe for profound mutual benefit.

Having spent over a decade in consulting at Ernst & Young across various service lines, Chakrapani’s personal foray into Indian venture capital firms revealed a striking absence of Australian investors. “I would invariably ask the question… where are you raising money from in Australia? And the response would always be consistently across the board that they’re not raising any capital from Australia,” Chakrapani revealed.

The sheer scale and pace of India’s economic evolution are compelling. Chakrapani is particularly animated by its trajectory: “Without a doubt, the most exciting thing about India is that it is the fastest growing large economy in the world.”

Projecting from its $3.6 trillion GDP in 2023, India is conservatively estimated by major global bodies like the IMF and World Economic Forum to reach “$7 trillion by 2030. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Can you tell me any other economy in the world that has that level of potential and growth?”

This growth is fundamentally driven by an active innovation economy. Chakrapani points out that approximately 65 per cent of all private market capital in India is concentrated in venture capital, reflecting a deliberate governmental push to foster innovation.

Beyond innovation, India’s consumption economy is undergoing a massive transformation. With consumption projected to surge from $2.2 trillion in 2023 to between $4 trillion and $5 trillion by 2030, a “rising tide lifts all boat[s],” meaning an average investor could see their capital grow “2 and a half times in seven years.” The maturation of India’s entire innovation value chain, from seed to pre-IPO stages, further solidifies its appeal:

India’s digital transformation, spearheaded by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, serves as a powerful testament to its innovative capacity. Chakrapani lauds UPI as “a prime example of a world-class innovation being delivered at very, very reasonable cost,” noting its staggering transaction volumes.

This digital leapfrogging has profoundly impacted financial inclusion, empowering even street vendors to conduct cashless transactions. “You step out of your hotel, you go to a street vendor… you just take your phone and scan the QR code and you’re digitally transacting. That person has a bank account now, has a credit score, can have access to financial products,” he described, illustrating the cascading effects of this digital integration.

Beyond payments, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) playbook and quick commerce platforms are driving exponential growth for brands, demonstrating a widespread embrace of technology across manufacturing and consumption. With “1.4 billion people who are very willing to accept and embrace technology,” Chakrapani firmly believes “India is going to leapfrog the digital value chain globally.”

Establishing Creek Partners was not without its hurdles. Chakrapani acknowledges the “many challenges” involved in setting up the firm and identifying the right venture capital partners in India. Their rigorous selection process involved sifting through 1,200 alternative investment funds, ultimately partnering with Fireside Ventures, focused on the consumer sector. A primary ongoing challenge for Creek Partners is investor education in Australia.

By being an Australian-domiciled firm, Creek Partners aims to simplify this access, fostering an economic corridor for the exchange of capital, technology, and know-how, and aligning with their core values of contributing to both nations.