Rohan Jain, manager - CVC and innovations at SIG Tattva, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Rohan Jain says his background as a former startup co-founder is what makes him a better corporate venture capitalist.
“Working as a founder helped me understand the sentiment of the market – what CVCs look for when it comes to metrices, KPIs, due diligence. Now that I am on the other side of the table, I know how to evaluate a startup better, how to find the right fit quickly, the exact KPIs to track, and so on. It has helped me streamline the process more effectively.”
SIG Tattva is the CVC arm of Indian conglomerate Somany Impresa Group, which has interests in building products, consumer appliances and packaging products. The unit was established in November 2024 and focuses on investments in deep tech manufacturing, enterprise software-as-a-service, clean technologies, next-generation ecommerce and disruptive product innovations. Industry 4.0 and manufacturing tech is also an area of focus.
“Startups work on speed for survival versus corporates that work on scale, governance and risk management. As an investor, you have to know how to act as an effective bridge between the two.”
Jain, who was part of the corporate strategy team at the parent company before joining the CVC under the leadership of Shashvat Somany, also played a key role in driving the Pilot-before-Pitch programme – a strategic initiative also conceptualised by Somany to strengthen collaboration between startups and business units and accelerate innovation.
“A lot of VCs in India are trying to understand industry 4.0 as a sector. I thought it would be interesting to take VCs to our shop floor and have them observe how real economies of scale take place. It also served to help them understand what type of problem statements we are looking to address and find in our startup portfolio.”
A clear problem statement and strong internal sponsorship are critical for startups and corporates to work together smoothly, says Jain. “Startups work on speed for survival versus corporates that work on scale, governance and risk management. As an investor, you have to know how to act as an effective bridge between the two.”
The Rising Stars are early-career corporate venture professionals who are making an outstanding contribution to their teams and the industry.
See the full list of Rising Stars 2026 here.
