BackMay invest in interesting companies in India: Zoomcar’s Barbara Judge
Zoomcar investor Judge says services-to-energy business is an important area for the country
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New Delhi: Barbara Judge, an early investor in Zoomcar India Pvt. Ltd, was in India last week to attend a board meeting of the Bengaluru-based self-drive car rental service, which was started in 2013 by David Back and Greg Moran under its US parent Zoomcar Inc. It has secured funding from Sequoia Capital and angel investors such as Mohandas Pai and Abhay Jain. The former chair of the UK Atomic Energy Commission, Judge last visited India as the head of a nuclear trade commission. She spoke about her investment in Zoomcar and interest in nuclear energy. Edited excerpts:
What interested you in Zoomcar?
Nobody believed this could actually work in India. It was believed India had plenty of cars with chauffeurs and they didn’t need any self-drive cars. So there was a lot of skepticism around the proposition. But David (Back) and Greg (Moran) had a dream and they pursued it. They came here to start Zoomcar, giving up good jobs and professional opportunities.
I was lucky to meet David in London, where he asked for my advice. I told him (to) go to India…it is a great opportunity and then asked him about the business plan. I gave the idea to Lloyd Thomas, one of the managing directors at Triangle Growth Partners (growth capital fund) where I am the chairman of the board. They said it is a great business idea and we should invest in it. That is how we became very early investors in the company.
Have you invested in companies elsewhere in the world?
I have investments in a company working on low carbon technology in London, a medical technology start-up. I am particularly interested in things that are studying Alzheimers. I am also an investor in a car app company that is being run by a friend of my son. It is early days for me as an angel investor. If Zoom goes well I will do more. This is essentially a new stage in my life.
Could you take us through your journey from being the youngest commissioner of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ambassador for nuclear energy in the UK to being an angel investor?
It was very tough being a woman in the 1960s and ’70s and I worked my way to be a partner in a law firm. In 1979, I was on a trip to China and met a woman on a bus tour. She was alone and I took care of her. She took me out for lunch and I mentioned that I didn’t want to do the job I was doing forever and if she knew of something she should let me know. She was the most senior woman broker on Wall Street and asked for my CV.
In 1980, I was in California doing a deal and I got a call from my partner saying that the White House had called and I was on the shortlist to be the commissioner of SEC. I didn’t have time for stupid jokes and crashed the phone. He called back to say they had told White House that I wouldn’t be interested as I had just become a partner (in the firm). That’s when I asked him to call the White House and tell them I will be there...
I was surprised how they found me. The man at White House said the most senior woman broker in Wall Street had recommended me. That was my biggest break.
Later, when I was looking for a government job, the only job I got was in nuclear energy. The more I got into nuclear, the more I believed in it and became the chairman of UK Atomic Energy Commission. I started helping the British in building their policy. That is the same time when India was thinking very hard about nuclear. They asked Britain for help and I was sent here. I am currently helping the Japanese with their Fukushima nuclear plants and I am interested in helping India with their nuclear policy, too.
Are you looking to invest more in India?
I love the Indian people, so I believe it will be interesting to invest in young, talented Indian people. I want to find and invest in new interesting companies (in India).
Which sectors would you prefer to invest in?
My son is already interviewing and meeting people as we talk. He is one of the managing directors (MDs) of Triangle Growth Partners, a growth capital fund. His partner is an Indian. Given their experience so far with Zoom, which has been brilliant, they are interested in this region. I will mostly invest with them. If I see something that I like of my own, I might invest on my own. But mostly I am going to utilize Triangle to do a lot of due diligence and gain experience. I am learning more about other businesses here in India… about the hotel business, the leisure sector.
Any interesting sectors here that can be explored?
India has a vast need for many things… I think a services-to-energy business is a good idea—companies that make things that are used in energy business. I think that is important. India has such a huge population.
After Japan’s Fukushima disaster, countries have gone soft on their nuclear energy plans. How can countries build confidence that nuclear energy is safe?
Actually, that was a very old power plant—40 years old. It was badly maintained and Japan had real gaps in the regulatory system.
First of all, power plants have to be made safer. But whatever happened did not happen because of the earthquake, because after the earthquake the power plants were still running. It was the tsunami that flooded out the electric power...
Nobody died of radiation—not even one person. Twenty thousand people died of earthquake and newspapers kept calling it a nuclear disaster. They called the American nuclear regulator head and were advised to evacuate 50 miles (of the plant), though they probably should have evacuated only 10 miles around. So the people who are suffering now were the ones who were evacuated.
Having said that, you need to establish public trust…it is well known in the nuclear circles that the people who are most against nuclear power are women, particularly educated women. What Japan should do is establish an overriding advisory board on the whole nuclear industry with more women on it. And not just people like me but reporters, housewives, mothers, teachers, scientists and doctors so that they can understand the importance of nuclear.
If they open doors and show people how nuclear power plants work, like in China where there is a huge visitor centre, then you can make much better use of a nuclear power plant.
Education is the answer to the problem. And no source of energy is 100% safe—none. If there were (any), it would be the only one we would build. Nuclear is actually safer, compared with oil and gas and coal.
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