Dhairen Tohliani
In
"Developed nations are built on the back of ambitious entrepreneurs who have a never say never attitude. I'm looking to be a strong supporter in this journey while improving their odds of success."
Get To Know
Dhairen Tohliani
Growing up in a middle-class business family, I witnessed the spirit of Indian entrepreneurship closely as my family navigated various challenges. This inspired a keen interest in understanding what it takes to build a successful business. I pursued Chartered Accountancy to gain an early vantage point while honing technical skills.
Taking an unconventional path, I worked across India's largest AMC, a MSME lending startup, and a structured debt fund focused on startups. At the core has been an innate curiosity to witness entrepreneurial journeys and learn about new businesses and trends.
Fintech is a space where domain understanding is highly critical. The founding team is paramount, combined with early-stage signals such as a large problem statement, "pain-killer" solution, and deep profit pools.
Success comes from founders with domain expertise who have caught the right trendline. These founders leverage either vast experience or novel product approaches to unlock large opportunities while balancing risk appropriately.
India's fintech ecosystem is expanding rapidly, supported by digitization, favorable demographics, innovations in payments, and strong government support. As India pushes towards becoming a developed economy by 2047, fintech will be the oil that enables this transformation, creating opportunities for multiple large businesses.
In line with Z47's founder-first ethos, our role is to support founders in achieving their audacious goals. Having spent time across operating roles (retail lending and AMC) and investing (structured capital for startups), I draw parallels and leverage learnings to help founders either solve problems or unlock new opportunities.
My experience at a retail lending startup through Covid taught me that in lending, profits come first and losses come later. A balanced approach toward growth and risk is critical for success. Founders should focus on building a complementary team that understands this while ensuring deep knowledge of their customer segment and how business cycles impact their operations.
Initiatives like UPI, co-lending/FLDGs, neo-banking, and open banking have fostered strong collaboration between incumbents and fintechs. This foundation will continue to encourage partnership and support innovation in the sector.