Deep Kalra
Founder & Group Chairman, MakeMyTrip; Angel Investor
Reviewed Updated Jun 24, 2026This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.
Background
Deep Kalra is the Founder and Group Chairman of MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel company and a NASDAQ-listed business he founded in 2000 12. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (University of Delhi) in 1990, followed by an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) in 1992 1.
After IIM-A, Kalra spent three years at ABN AMRO Bank, then worked with AMF Bowling to establish bowling alleys in India 1. He joined GE Capital in 1999 as Vice President of Business Development before founding MakeMyTrip in 2000 — having recognized the internet’s potential while attempting to sell his wife’s car online 1. MakeMyTrip listed on NASDAQ in 2010, making it one of the first Indian internet companies to go public on a US exchange 12. Kalra functioned as Group CEO until August 2013, when Rajesh Magow became Group CEO; in 2022 Kalra transitioned to Group Chairman and Chief Mentor 1.
Beyond MakeMyTrip, Kalra heads the NASSCOM internet working group and is an executive member 1. He is a founder of Ashoka University and serves on its governing body, and he is a founding member of the NGO “I am Gurgaon” 1. From 2024 to February 2026 he served as Chair of the World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative 1. In 2011, KPMG ranked him #1 on its list of most powerful digital influencers in India 1.
Kalra invests personally as an angel — Tracxn and CB Insights count between 16 and 28 portfolio companies depending on disclosure cutoffs 34. His most recent disclosed investment is Lyskraft (Seed, April 2024) 345.
Stated Thesis
Kalra has not published a formal angel investing thesis. Aggregator profiles describe his focus as Indian early-stage consumer internet, fintech, healthtech, and edtech 36.
Speaking at the India Internet Day event organized by TiE Delhi NCR in September 2022, Kalra warned founders about the true cost of equity capital: “While equity money seems cheap, it is the most expensive capital and founders should beware.” 7 He elaborated: “While it does not cost much upfront and founders don’t realize it at the beginning, it hits hard later when they see the amount of value they created and gave away to investors.” 7
He has also publicly cautioned that “growth at any cost” remains a dominant ethos in the Indian startup ecosystem, and urged founders to exercise prudence when scaling 7. The throughline across his public statements is capital discipline — he frames himself less as a pure financial backer than as an operator-mentor who has run a public company through multiple cycles.
Inferred Thesis
This analysis is based on the verified angel portfolio of approximately 16-28 disclosed investments that aggregator databases (Tracxn, CB Insights, Crunchbase) attribute to Kalra, with full granular round-level data confirmed for a smaller subset (Lyskraft, Scripbox, PlanetSpark, Punt Partners, Eka.Care, Exotel, Mitron, Milkbasket, Ola) 34568. Percentages should be read as directional given the limited disclosure on smaller checks.
Sector distribution (verified disclosed portfolio of approximately 9 companies with sector identified): Consumer internet and consumer commerce — Ola (mobility), Milkbasket (grocery), Mitron (short video), Lyskraft (consumer brands platform) — is 4 of 9 (44%) 345. Fintech — Scripbox (wealth management), Punt Partners (broking) — is 2 of 9 (22%) 34. Edtech and healthtech — PlanetSpark (edtech), Eka.Care (digital health), Terra.do (climate edtech) — is 3 of 9 (33%) 36. SaaS/enterprise — Exotel (cloud telephony) — is 1 of 9 (11%) 36.
Stage distribution: Predominantly seed and early Series A. Lyskraft was a $26M seed round in April 2024 led by Peak XV Partners with Prosus, Sofina, and partners of DST Global; Kalra participated in the syndicate 59. Scripbox Series D-II in January 2022 was a follow-on through-line rather than a new entry 4. Punt Partners’ December 2022 round was a $1.74M seed 3.
Geographic focus: Almost entirely India. Tracxn lists India and the US as Kalra’s two geographies, but the US exposure is largely Indian-founder companies registered offshore (e.g., Lyskraft) 35. Domestically he is concentrated in Delhi NCR (his home base in Gurgaon), Bengaluru, and Mumbai 36.
Founder profile patterns: Kalra repeatedly backs second-time or operator founders building consumer or fintech businesses for the Indian middle class. Lyskraft is led by Mukesh Bansal (Myntra, Cult.fit founder) and Mohit Gupta (former MakeMyTrip President turned Zomato Food Delivery CEO) — Gupta is a direct MakeMyTrip alumnus 59. Eka.Care, Scripbox, and PlanetSpark were all backed by Kalra at growth-of-conviction rounds rather than first checks 36.
Co-investor patterns: Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Accel India, Prime Venture Partners, Prosus, and other Indian operator-angels (Ashish Hemrajani of BookMyShow, Binny Bansal of Flipkart, Kunal Shah of CRED) recur as co-investors 35910. The Punt Partners December 2022 seed included Ashish Hemrajani plus 38 other angels — a syndicate signal that Kalra co-invests heavily with the Indian “operator-angel mafia” rather than alone 3.
Exits: Four disclosed exits — Milkbasket (acquired by Reliance Retail, 2021), Ridlr (acquired by Ola, 2018), Biosense, and Mitron (acquired by Koo, June 2022) 34. Ola is his lone unicorn that has not yet exited 3.
Notable gap: Despite founding India’s largest OTA, Kalra has very limited disclosed travel-tech investing — his portfolio is broader Indian consumer/fintech/edtech, not a travel rollup. This is the largest delta between stated thesis (aggregator profiles list “travel-tech” as a focus) and actual portfolio behavior.
Portfolio
This table represents disclosed investments where Kalra’s participation is confirmed by a primary or contemporaneous source. Several smaller checks are referenced in aggregator databases but not yet matched to a citable round announcement.
| Company | Year | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyskraft | 2024 | Seed ($26M, led by Peak XV) | 59 |
| Punt Partners | 2022 | Seed ($1.74M) | 34 |
| Mitron (exit: acquired by Koo) | 2022 | Acquired | 34 |
| Scripbox | 2022 | Series D ($21M, led by Accel) | 310 |
| PlanetSpark | 2021 | Series B ($13.5M, led by Prime Venture Partners) | 36 |
| Milkbasket (exit: acquired by Reliance Retail) | 2021 | Acquired | 34 |
| Eka.Care | ~2021 | Seed | 36 |
| Exotel | ~2021 | Growth | 36 |
| Terra.do | ~2021 | Seed | 36 |
| Park+ | ~2021 | Seed | 36 |
| Touchtalent | ~2020 | Seed | 36 |
| Zovi | ~2018 | Growth | 36 |
| Ridlr (exit: acquired by Ola) | 2018 | Acquired | 3 |
| Ola (unicorn) | ~2012 (founding-year proxy: 2010) | Early stage | 34 |
| ~unknown | Biosense (exit) | – | Acquired |
In Their Own Words
“While equity money seems cheap, it is the most expensive capital and founders should beware. While it does not cost much upfront and founders don’t realize it at the beginning, it hits hard later when they see the amount of value they created and gave away to investors.” — Deep Kalra, India Internet Day (TiE Delhi NCR), September 2022 7
Kalra has also offered perseverance advice to early founders, encouraging them to “just hang in there and don’t give up too early because so many businesses haven’t seen the light of day because someone gave up too early” 11.
What Founders Say
No independently sourced founder testimonials specifically about Kalra’s angel investing posture were located through dedicated search. Portfolio founders (Mukesh Bansal at Lyskraft, Mohit Gupta at Lyskraft) have spoken publicly about their businesses but no quote was located that describes Kalra’s working relationship with them as an angel rather than as a colleague or industry peer. This section will be updated as quotes are surfaced.
Sources
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Wikipedia, “Deep Kalra,” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Kalra↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Sierra Ventures portfolio page, “MakeMyTrip - Deep Kalra, Chairman | Rajesh Magow, Group CEO,” accessed June 2026. https://www.sierraventures.com/makemytrip-deep-kalra-rajesh-magow↩↩
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Tracxn, “Deep Kalra - 2025 Portfolio & Founded Companies,” accessed June 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/deep-kalra/__6COj1FiJnrEU6XkKU3r6mw9okfFeH5YuP6XokHaE0Ew↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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CB Insights, “Deep Kalra Portfolio Investments, Funds, Exits,” accessed June 2026. https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/deep-kalra↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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YourStory, “Peak XV leads $26M round in Lyskraft,” April 2024, accessed June 2026. https://yourstory.com/2024/04/peak-xv-leads-26-million-funding-round-lyskraft-prosus-mukesh-bansal-mohit-gupta↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Crunchbase, “Deep Kalra - CEO & Executive Chairman @ MakeMyTrip.com,” accessed June 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/deep-kalra↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Entrepreneur India, “Before Parting With Equity, Founders Should Think Twice,” September 2, 2022, accessed June 2026. https://india.entrepreneur.com/news-and-trends/before-parting-with-equity-founders-should-think-twice/434602↩↩↩↩
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LinkedIn profile, “Deep Kalra - Owner, MakeMyTrip,” accessed June 2026. https://in.linkedin.com/in/deepkalra↩
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FashionNetwork India, “Lyskraft raises $26 million in funding round led by Peak XV Partners,” April 2024, accessed June 2026. https://in.fashionnetwork.com/news/Lyskraft-raises-26-million-in-funding-round-led-by-peak-xv-partners,1628352.html↩↩↩↩
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LVX Ventures, “Scripbox raises $21 million in funding round led by Accel Partners,” 2022, accessed June 2026. https://lvxventures.com/news/scripbox-raises-21-million-in-funding-round-led-by-accel-partners↩↩
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Outlook Business, “Secret Diary of Deep Kalra, Founder, MakeMyTrip,” 2018, accessed June 2026. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/specials/secret-diary-of-an-entrepreneur_2018/i-dont-believe-in-luck-but-i-believe-that-if-you-work-hard-things-fall-in-place-4418↩