India, You're Next!
A Home for Entrepreneurs Building Enduring Indian Businesses. Bertelsmann Next India partners with founders to build majority-owned, founder-led companies - with permanent capital, deep operating support, and a multi-decade commitment to India’s growth.
Building Scale with Evergreen Capital
India is entering its most defining decade of company creation - one that will produce enduring, category-defining businesses. This era is the one that demands patience as much as ambition. Building businesses of true scale requires more than capital; it requires time, alignment, and the willingness to build through cycles.
Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) continues to operate as the growth-stage venture capital arm, backing minority positions in Indian startups.
Bertelsmann Next India is complementary but distinct, an Evergreen Capital, a home for founders building enduring businesses.
Bertelsmann Next India is our long-term commitment to India - to building majority-owned, founder-led operating businesses that can scale to billions in revenue over time.
Not as financial sponsors.
Not driven by exit timelines.
But as patient partners, working alongside founders to build platforms that compound in value and relevance for decades.
What Is Bertelsmann Next
Bertelsmann Next is the dedicated business-building and growth engine within Bertelsmann Investments - designed to build large, enduring operating businesses, not just invest in them.
Created in 2022, Bertelsmann Next goes beyond venture investing. Its mandate is simple and ambitious: to build nine- to ten-digit revenue businesses that can become future pillars of the Bertelsmann Group. This is achieved through a combination of organic growth and buy-and-build strategies, typically with majority ownership and deep operational involvement.
Across geographies, this model has already been proven. In markets such as Latin America, Bertelsmann Next has built and scaled category-defining companies like Afya, demonstrating the power of permanent capital paired with hands-on execution.
Today, Bertelsmann Next is actively building platforms across four verticals globally - and is now bringing this long-term operating model to India.
Mobile Ad Tech
HR Tech
Pharma Tech
India
(via Bertelsmann Next India)
Stewarding Bertelsmann Next India's Long-Term Vision
Bertelsmann Next India is led by Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of Bertelsmann India Investments and one of the earliest architects of Bertelsmann's multi-decade presence in India.
In addition to leading Bertelsmann Next India, Pankaj serves as Chairman of the Board of LetsTransport Group, BNI's first operating platform. In this role, he bridges capital, governance, and founder partnership—ensuring businesses are built with both ambition and durability, and with founders firmly at the center of execution.
BNI's journey in India begins with LetsTransport Group (LTG).
Bertelsmann has acquired an 80% majority stake in LetsTransport, backing the founding team to scale the company from one of India's leading trucking marketplaces into a national, tech-enabled logistics platform serving enterprise and mid-market customers.
Founded in 2015, LetsTransport connects over 250,000 truck drivers and small fleet operators with more than 100 enterprise customers, delivering service levels well above industry benchmarks. Under BNI, LTG gains long-term capital, governance support, and access to Bertelsmann's global logistics expertise, while founders retain full operational leadership.
LTG also marks the beginning of a broader ecosystem play, collaborating with other Bertelsmann and BII portfolio companies, including Shiprocket, to strengthen India's logistics value chain through technology, scale, and operational depth.
Bertelsmann Next India brings this global business-building model to India.
BNI is a platform to build and scale majority-owned, founder-led operating companies in India, combining long-term capital, governance support, and selective access to Bertelsmann's global capabilities. The focus is on high-quality platforms where founders want to build at scale without the constant pressure of fundraising cycles.
BNI represents Bertelsmann's commitment and long-term bet on India.
India has been a standout growth market for us, powered by exceptional founders and ambitious companies. With Bertelsmann Next India, we're deepening that commitment—partnering for scale with patient capital and global know-how, while keeping founders in the driver's seat. LetsTransport Group is a flagship for this approach: a strong team building a category-leading logistics business for the long term.
BNI combines Bertelsmann Group's strengths with founder-led autonomy to build durable operating businesses in India. While BII continues to back stellar startups as a sector-agnostic, early-growth VC fund, BNI will partner with founders at majority ownership to compound value over decades without the efforts to raise capital every year.
A Network of Operating Platforms, Built Across Continents
Bertelsmann Next already powers some of the most respected tech platforms across Europe and beyond, each built with a long-term operating mindset.
Through the Applike Group, Bertelsmann Next has built a global app growth ecosystem
a leading app growth platform
founded with Gruner + Jahr
rewarded engagement and
monetization at scale
creator of globally loved
rewarded gaming apps
a leading app growth platform
founded with Gruner + Jahr
rewarded engagement and
monetization at scale
creator of globally loved
rewarded gaming apps
Together, these companies serve hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
Under EMBRACE, Bertelsmann Next is building a full-stack HR tech ecosystem across the employee lifecycle
employer branding, recruiting,
and retention platforms
Germany's leading
apprenticeship marketplace
the largest e-learning community
in German-speaking markets
digital learning for
vocational training
AI-driven recruiting and
HR tech solutions
employer branding and
recruiting strategy
The shared goal: making work more human, optimistic, and scalable through technology
Across the pharmaceutical content and compliance lifecycle, Bertelsmann Next has built a deeply integrated pharma tech platform
the umbrella life
sciences platform
AI-powered content authoring for
regulated pharma documents
regulatory, quality, and safety
software for life sciences
a trusted institution in German
healthcare information
regulator-approved medicines
information for Ireland
These businesses form the digital backbone of regulated healthcare communication across markets.
Together, these partnerships form the foundation of Bertelsmann Next India — a platform built to create category-defining companies aligned with India's long-term growth.
Great businesses aren't built to exit, they're built to Endure.
