DFJ's Raj Atluru named VC of the Year

Oct. 1, 2007

DFJ's Raj Atluru named VC of the Year by the Indus Business Journal.

Venture Capital: Raj Atluru
Managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Raj Atluru is managing director of global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

With offices in over 30 cities around the world, including its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, and more than $3.5 billion in capital commitments, Draper Fisher Jurvetson claims that its mission is to �"dentify, serve and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world."

Give this corporate focus, Atluru fits in nicely with his fellow partners. He claims to have a "strong passion" for Draper Fisher Jurvetson's work, especially in his areas of expertise: clean and wireless technologies and new corporate start-ups in India.

A graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and environmental engineering as well as a master's degree in business administration, Atluru is originally from Vijaywada, India. His family immigrated to the United States when he was just two.

Atluru's enthusiasm translates well behind closed doors at Draper Fisher Jurvetson where, as a partner, his role is to convince his colleagues to fund entrepreneurial ventures that he deems worthy of the firm's support. According to him, the decision is a lot more subjective and, consequently, risky than in more traditional funding of companies.

Typically, Atluru says that his research includes discussions with customers and partners, review of company income statements and, in general, "getting to know the management" and their grasp of the technology and the marketplace that is the focus of the firm's business activity. When all is said and done, however, he says that venture capitalists, such as himself, depend a great deal upon "judgment and experience" when making the final decision to fund or not to fund. Even in the midst of such intense scrutiny, Atluru is quick to point out that venture capital investments are "far from safe."

Recent investments include SeventyMM, an entertainment and movie rental business serving the India market.

At this time, Atluru is setting his sights on several up-and-coming entrepreneurial concepts, including one that will enable Indian consumers to use their debit and credit cards to pay their bills by cell phone and technology that will allow firms to more easily download new software applications. He is also considering investments in solar, renewable and clean coal companies, as well.

Atluru credits his ability to "look at the world differently" and sees his hard work and integrity as keys to his success.

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