Rehan Yar Khan on navigating turbulence at Orios, fund performance, and the road ahead

The past 18 months have been a whirlwind of drama at Orios Venture Partners, one of India’s prominent venture capital firms. While one portfolio company, GoMechanic, faced allegations of fraud, another was forced to take a significant valuation haircut—as much as 90%—in order to secure fresh funding.

To make matters worse, two of the firm’s partners, Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, resigned. Meanwhile, a couple of its portfolio companies that were poised to go public—crucial exit opportunities for Orios—postponed their initial public offerings (IPOs). Unsurprisingly, Rehan Yar Khan, the founder and managing partner of Orios, has had his hands full.

“2023 was one of those years where everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” said Khan, over a video call with The CapTable, as he reflected on the past two years. “As humans, we never want things to go wrong, but some things are beyond our control.”