Table of Contents
From Prisoner to Investor – Journey of Corporate Venture Capital Investor ‘Rajat Gupta’
As of 2020, almost 6,000 angel investors are present in India. Each one of them has an interesting and captivating story, but when we talking about the most successful angel investors, we can’t miss out on the journey of corporate venture capital investor Rajat Gupta.
Untold Motivational Stories of Businessman – Rajat Gupta
Rajat Gupta is one of the most successful Indian American businessmen who has achieved excellence on his own. Whether becoming the first foreign-born managing director of Mckinsey & Company (1994-2003) to holding fortress for himself after two years of imprisonment. His story has been nothing but a tale of misfortune.
Born in Kolkata and raised in Delhi, Gupta’s misfortune always has been by his side – his parents passed away when he was just eighteen. Gupta knew that he and his siblings had to find a way to fend for themselves at such a young age.
“Decided to live by ourselves. It was pretty unusual in those days.”
The making of startup venture capital genius began by scoring 15th rank in IIT JEE and receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School with distinction. He never looked back in his career and held a position in various corporations’ boards such as Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, American Airlines, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, and many more.
With an approximate net worth of $100 million when he left Mckinsey, Gupta was on the top. But, his misfortune caught up with him once again in 2012 when he was convicted for two years sentence.
Fall of Rajat Gupta
‘It was a lapse in judgment. I lost my will to fight.’
Mr. Gupta has been the classic Type A personality. Once he set his mind on something, he went after it with full force. When Rajat’a sight fixated on the Sri Lankan-American hedge fund manager, Raj Rajaratnam, his troublesome days started at the exact moment.
Raj was part of some unethical business practices, and Gupta made the mistake of partnering with him. The matter of two phone calls made by Gupta to Raj immediately after leaving the Goldman Sachs board meeting had convicted him of two years in prison.
This judgment had created a huge buzz in the US Indian trading community and changed many business dynamics. Whether the termination of Preet Bharara (Federal prosecutor who charged Gupta) by the ex-US president Donal Trump or Rajat’s accusation of biased jury verdict due to his immigrant background. Things changed a lot.
“The jury was 12 individuals who were (from) mainstream America, who was naturally a little suspicious of immigrants.”
Rajat Gupta Is Back
This is one of the motivational stories of a businessman, so without a stellar comeback – it can’t be called a motivation story. After completing his sentence in 2016, Rajat returned with full power and targeted the Indian startup circle as an individual corporate venture capital investor.
He has funded four amazing Indian startups in the areas of consumer services, logistics, and enterprise services. His leading startup investments in the last four years has been – Rivigo, Zappka, Teamonk Global, Dockabl. He is also the Co-Founder and Chairman at New Silk Route and has funded some innovative startups –
- Rivigo – It is a technology-oriented logistics portal that provides transport services. From the six angel investors (Mr. Gupta included), the company has raised $268.7 million in 11 rounds of funding. This Gurugram based logistics company offers everything from relay-led trucking to the digital trucking marketplace.
- Zappka – Along with Daman Soni, Rajat Gupta has invested $100K in Zappka app. It is a personal app store on which users can discover apps based on their profile, friends, social network, and preferences.
- Dockabl – Rajat Gupta, Sanjay Kapoor, Ritesh Malik, and other two investors have funded productivity, performance, and engagement-driven platform – Dockabl. This employee experience platform has raised $1.3 million from five investors.
- Teamonk Global – Recently, Rajat has diverted his attention to the most favorite beverage of Indians – Tea and made a significant investment in Teamonk – a premium tea brand. Rajat Gupta and Root Ventures have invested $1 million (out of $3.1 million total investment) in Teamonk Global. It is one of the most talked-about personal investments made by Gupta.
Key Lessons Driven From Rajat Gupta’s Tale
From CEO of Mckinsey to a prisoner for two years, Rajat Gupta has become one of the most successful angel investors at 71. His journey is an inspiration for young businessmen and businesswomen. The key takeaways from his fall and rise journey are –
• Things never remain the same – So you should be ready to tackle any kind of situation.
• Don’t stop – After getting out of prison, he could have retired easily and left business behind for good. But, he didn’t stop – he started his journey as an angel investor in India.
• Understand the market curve – He understood that technology defines the new era; thus, he has invested in progressive tech startups. Next, he is targeting the FMCG industry with his witty skills.
Conclusion
Fall, rise, fall, and once again rise is the short snippet of Rajat Gupta’s story – a corporate venture capital investor. You can call him misfortunate or culprit – but you can’t ignore him. We can’t ignore the fact that Rajat Gupta has made Indians proud on many occasions. So, Colitco is keen, like everyone, to know what new chapter Rajat Gupta unfolds next?
Colitco is an online story point where inspirational startups, venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity players journey is narrated along with some vital lessons for budding entrepreneurs and students. So, keep on reading the other motivational stories of a businessman only here!


With a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Punjabi University, Daman Sandhu uses her meticulous and analytical training to compile crisp, sharp, and grammatically charged content copy. She has worked with various brands and companies in her writing journey, but she always has a soft spot for startup organizations.
Pingback: 3 Best Tips For First-Time Entrepreneurs [Road To Success] | Colitco
Pingback: Start-up Valuation: Methods, Calculation and Working in India
I truly appreciate this blog article. Really thank you! Really Great. Zola Rodolphe Shepherd
I have recently started a web site, the information you offer on this website has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. Willow Alexandre Ruiz
Pingback: Inspirational Startup Story of MDH Spice King Mahashay Dharampal Gulati(97) - The Rags-To-Riches Story
Pingback: Start-up Valuation: Methods, Calculation and Working in India – Colito
Pingback: 3 Best Tips For First-Time Entrepreneurs [Road To Success] – Colito
Great delivery. Solid arguments. Keep up the great effort. Sandye Davin Colbert
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank yoou for supplying this info. Neila Augustus Town
I usdd to be able tto find good informatipn from your blog posts. Karleen Conny Marna
whoah this weblog is excellent i love reading your articles. Keep up the good work! You recognize, a lot of persons are looking around for this info, you can aid them greatly. | Babbette Nikos Cailean
Hi Jen, what kind of seasoning do you use. They have so many. Elsa Silvio Jeremy
Good post! We are linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing. Talyah Warner Ashlan Merrilee Torin Lanta
Hey there. I discovered your site by way of Google at the same time as looking for a comparable topic, your web site came up. It appears to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then. Melonie Benoit Florentia
gud pm po, ask lng po sna ako help kung pwede po ako makahingi ng reviewer ng csc exam, mag tatake po ako ng csc exam this coming april 6, hingi po sna ako help n maka hngi po ng reviewer s inyo, kng ok lng po pls pki send nlang po s email add ko thank u so much po and god bless Julia Madison Soo
Wow, great article post. Thanks Again. Really Great. Juliane Thibaut Sapphera Kriste Cecilius Benton
I go to see day-to-day a few sites and sites to read articles, however this website presents quality based articles.| Reina Hastings Fredella
come va i tuo termostato?Io ho trovato enormi problemi tra netatmo e vodafone station Gertrude Sidney Aldric
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is actually annoying. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email? Caryn Levi Dinsdale
Some really choice content on this website , saved to bookmarks . Nikki Jared Magbie
It is in reality a nice and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing. Michaela Cliff Stan
gbfgem I see something really special in this web site. Kit Cully Formica