Prosus and Naspers interim CEO Ervin Tu to visit India later this month

Ervin Tu, interim CEO of Naspers and Prosus. Image source: Company website

Ervin Tu, the interim chief executive of Naspers and Prosus, the VC firm that has backed large startups like Swiggy and Byju’s among several others, will be visiting India around the end of this month, people aware of his plans told Moneycontrol. This will be Tu’s first visit to the country after he was promoted from group chief investment officer in September.

Tu was made the interim CEO in September when former CEO of Prosus and Naspers Bob van Dijk stepped down after nearly a decade with the investing giant.

India, the world’s third largest startup ecosystem, is a key market for Prosus which has invested about $6 billion in the country till date. During his trip, Tu is likely to visit Delhi and Bengaluru, as per his initial itinerary, sources said. They however added that his plans may change slightly closer to the actual dates.

The company did not respond to a request for comments.

Tu’s visit will largely revolve around Prosus’ new investment plans in India and is unlikely to hold elaborate meetings with all his portfolio companies during his time in the country. “Tu will spend some time with Prosus’ executive team in India as well as its businesses,” one of the persons cited above told Moneycontrol. He does not plan to meet government officials during his visit, the person added.

Tu’s visit to India comes at a time when PayU, the fintech and payment processing firm backed by Netherlands-based Prosus, is looking to list in India sometime next year. Similarly, Swiggy, another portfolio company, is also planning a public market debut in 2024 and has likely picked seven investment banks for its mega IPO.

Prosus’ stake in Indian unicorns

Prosus is also slated to announce its half yearly results for the six month period ended September around the same time when Tu is visiting India.

Top deck rejig
Prosus has announced a slew of management changes over the past months. In September, Dijk stepped down as CEO and gave up his board seats. The move was shortly after Prosus appointed Gautam Thakar, former CEO of OLX Autos, to head its edtech investments as part of an internal restructuring which resulted in a split of the food delivery and edtech divisions into distinct segments.

Thakar is the CEO of edtech for Prosus, while Roger Rabalais, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Food and Chief Operating Officer (COO) business-to-consumer (B2C), became the CEO food delivery.

The roles of Thakar and Rabalais were altered because Larry Illg, who was serving as the CEO of the combined division (food delivery and edtech) since its inception said he was stepping down.