The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

Akash Bhat

The Desi VC, hosted by Akash Bhat, is an award-winning podcast featuring conversations with top investors & founders on trends, insights, and personal/success stories in the India-US startup ecosystem. Our purpose: As an immigrant in the US with deep roots in India, Akash explores the parallels & contrasts between Indian & US VC/tech landscapes. The podcast bridges knowledge gaps, fosters cross-cultural collaboration & celebrates 'desis' making a mark in the US.

  1. JUN 22

    E155: How 2016 US Election Inspired a Billion Dollar Startup | Abhishek Agrawal (CEO, Material Security)

    In 2016, Russian hackers broke into John Podesta’s Gmail during the US election. That single breach exposed how vulnerable email really is – and it directly inspired a billion-dollar cybersecurity startup. At the time, even the most powerful people in the world couldn’t fully secure their inboxes. Once hackers got access, there was nothing stopping them from reading everything: drafts, attachments and sensitive documents. Instead of trying to prevent email hacks, three ex-Dropbox engineers — Abhishek Agrawal, Ryan Noon, and Chris Park — asked a better question: What if you assumed the breach would happen, and protected the inbox anyway? Material Security built a powerful layer on top of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, locking down sensitive emails, verifying identity before access, and giving security teams real visibility — all without requiring a migration. In this episode, I sit down with Abhishek Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO of Material Security. We dive into their journey from pre-idea validation to scaling to a billion dollar valuation in about 5 years, lessons in management and leadership, and most importantly understand how Material Security is redefining email security for enterprises. If you're starting out or searching for your billion-dollar idea, this is a masterclass on going from zero to scale. ⏳ Timestamps: Trailer (00:00) Intro (01:39)How Material Security began? (03:30)Why and how did the team visualize exit scenarios? (09:45)What did their pivot feel like? (11:58)How they used feedback to create their product (24:51)How did they deal with rejections? (26:15)How did the early version of their product look like? (33:44)Did they consider changing ICPs? (38:17)Was it easy to convince investors? (40:46)How did the internal mindset shift feel like? (50:51)What specific shifts did Abhishek have to bring in? (57:15)What are the things Abhishek would do differently, if starting now? (01:07:17)What’s Abhishek’s advice to his younger self? (01:24:01) 🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1h 32m
  2. JUN 19

    E154: Why India Is THE Leading Emerging Market for Public Investing | Kevin Carter (Founder & CIO, EMQQ Global)

    Kevin Carter is the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, a San Francisco based investment management and research firm focused on providing investors access to the fast growing Emerging and Frontier Markets technology sector. EMQQ Global invests in publicly traded internet and ecommerce companies operating in 50+ countries, including India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico, Vietnam, and Turkey. Through ETFs listed across US, Europe, and Asia, the fund helps investors access the digital consumer revolution reshaping global markets.US investors can tap into this opportunity via three investment strategies: EMQQ: Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceFMQQ: Ex-China Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceINQQ: India Internet & Ecommerce Prior to EMQQ, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of AlphaShares, an investment firm offering five Emerging Markets ETFs in partnership with Guggenheim Investments. Previously, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of Active Index Advisors acquired by Natixis in 2005 and the Founder & CEO of eInvesting acquired by ETRADE in 2000. In this episode, Kevin outlines how India’s massive, young population, business-friendly reforms in recent years, and world-class education system are fueling rapid growth. He breaks down why India is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of digital consumption—and why now is the time for investors to pay attention. From mobile payments to food delivery and online education, India’s tech ecosystem is scaling faster than ever, creating unprecedented investment opportunities. Timestamps Opening trailer (00:00)Meet Kevin: intro to the episode (01:46)How do you break into public market investing? (02:28)How do people actually invest in public markets? (04:58)Is investing in emerging markets too risky? (11:04)What drives investors toward emerging markets? (17:05)What exactly is an emerging market? (19:35)When did India become an attractive market? (24:00)What happens after you invest in an emerging market? (31:15)How India stands out from other emerging markets (38:36)The future of India’s public markets (51:30)How investors can help shape India’s industries (58:38)Advice Kevin would give his younger self (1:07:00)Kevin’s biggest learnings from investing in India (1:10:43)Final thoughts (1:13:51) 🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1h 15m
  3. JUN 18

    E153: 7 Exits in 10 years – How To Win US Market | Arun Penmetsa (Partner, Storm Ventures)

    Arun Penmetsa is a Partner at Storm Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on Enterprise software companies. He invests primarily in SaaS, Security, and Digital Health startups. Before joining Storm, Arun held product and engineering roles at Oracle and Google, where he built enterprise software solutions at scale.Arun is deeply passionate about the intersection of healthcare and technology. In addition to investing in US-based startups, he actively advises several healthcare groups in India on technology and population health. His portfolio includes successful exits such as Airgap (acquired by Zscaler), Dasera (acquired by Netskope), Limbix (acquired by Big Health), MyAlly (acquired by Phenom), Rallyteam (acquired by Workday), Trustar (acquired by Splunk), and 4me (acquired by PSG).In today’s episode, we talk about his journey from building software at tech giants to backing category-defining startups across security and healthcare. Arun shares what he looks for in founders, lessons from his most successful exits, and why he believes healthcare is one of the most impactful sectors to invest in.Timestamps:* Trailer (00:00)* Introduction (01:26)* Arun's motivation behind getting into VC (03:41)* What goes into picking the right fund for pursuing VC as a career (08:58)* What it takes to become an investor (15:21)* Arun's personal style of being an investor (18:03)* How to find if you are a good fit for a company (21:36)* How does operator advisor advise portfolio companies at Storm Ventures (27:17)* How the best investors who have been operators mould their persona (32:38)* How Arun's personality has evolved as an investor (37:52)* Why communication is important in VC (41:01)* What the best performing portfolio companies at Storm Ventures did well (43:48)* Why founders should not hire for CV (47:57)How the education system has impacted the working culture (50:45)* Why public companies switch CEOs before going public (53:36)* What founders need to do before entering the US market (55:07)* Arun's advice for the younger generation (1:04:16)* Conclusion (1:05:18)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

    1h 7m
  4. APR 24

    E152: Near Bankruptcy to $250M ARR | Rohan Nayak (CEO, Pocket FM)

    Rohan Nayak is the Co-founder & CEO of Pocket FM, a company redefining audio storytelling for the world. While we’ve recently been publishing video episodes, this one’s a throwback to pure audio. Rohan had to travel unexpectedly, but we didn’t want to miss the chance to capture his insights on building one of India's fastest-growing consumer tech companies. Pocket FM is making waves globally — having recently raised $103 million in Series D funding, bringing total funding to $196.5 million, with backing from Lightspeed, Tanglin Venture Partners, Goodwater Capital, and Naver. With $150 million+ in ARR and 57% QoQ growth, they’re showing that audio isn’t just alive — it’s thriving. In today's episode, Rohan shares how building from India creates efficient growth playbooks, the nuances of global GTM, and why the future of content might sound a lot more like audio than you think. ⌛ Timestamps: Motivation behind starting a company (3:55)Why Rohan chose audio as a medium (5:20)Early reactions to Pocket FM’s vision (12:20)How audio is transforming short-form storytelling (22:10)Why audio has a higher creative bar than video (24:30)Localization and Pocket FM’s global expansion plan (25:40)The role of A/B testing in content development (32:25)How A/B testing works specifically for audio (37:20)Audio’s ability to transcend cultural boundaries (39:39)How Pocket FM finds breakout "blockbuster" shows (40:40)Why US-origin stories scale better globally (42:25)What content categories work—and which don’t (43:00)Top 3 learnings from going to market in the US (43:52)Mistakes Pocket FM made in their GTM journey (47:32)How culture shapes global go-to-market strategy (50:35)How Pocket FM is using AI to enhance storytelling (54:50)Rohan’s five-year vision for Pocket FM (1:01:35)Why AI will supercharge the next generation of creators (1:03:39)Personal lessons Rohan has learned as a founder (1:07:00)What keeps him grounded — the concept of "Basecamp" (1:11:15) 🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠

    1h 15m
  5. APR 10

    E151: Leaving VC to Build an AI Startup | Brij Bhasin (Rebright VC / Snow Mountain AI)

    Brij Bhasin is a longtime investor turned founder and the co-founder & CEO of Snow Mountain AI, a company focused on automating business processes in finance, compliance, and legal through AI. Before founding Snow Mountain, Brij was a General Partner at Rebright Partners, and earlier helped launch GSF Accelerator, one of India’s first and largest startup accelerators. He was also part of the early team at Little Eye Labs, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, and has over a decade of experience building tech products across startups in India and the US. In this episode, Brij shares why he left a successful venture career to become a founder, the challenges of building an AI startup from India for global markets and how he’s navigating entrepreneurship after a long break. This conversation is a must-listen for VCs considering a shift to operating roles, and for founders building deep-tech or AI startups out of India. ⌛ Timestamps Trailer (00:00)Brij's journey from 10 years of VC to a startup founder (01:48)What has Brij learnt being an investor for 10 years (04:24)How to build a startup in 2025 (Investor's POV) (05:53)Investor's definition of "velocity" and its importance (08:54)Medibuddy's case study (10:48)Importance of long-term view for a founder (13:43)PhonePe's case study (17:40)Monetary success, purpose, drive and teamwork (21:05)Difference between velocity and momentum (23:15)How do companies manage culture (29:41)Is quitting or pivoting bad? (35:25)What does it really mean to go from an investor to a founder? (48:58)Akash's strategic plan towards trademarking his company's logo (52:06)Thinking outside of the box (55:55)How easy it is to move from being an investor to a founder? (1:03:09)How difficult it is to raise capital as a founder who is a former investor? (1:07:40)What has Brij learnt about himself that surprised him yet transformed him? (1:11:41)Outro (1:15:56) 🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠

    1h 17m
  6. MAR 19

    E150 - "Build Companies Not Products" | Pramod Gosavi (Blumberg Capital)

    Pramod is a Senior Principal at Blumberg Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in leading Seed and Series A rounds. The firm is based in Tel Aviv (Israel) and San Francisco. Before joining Blumberg Capital, Pramod was a Principal at 11.2 Capital, where he focused on investing in early-stage cybersecurity, data, dev-tools, and AI. He led seed rounds in Coalesce, Permiso, StrikeReady, Surf Security, MightyMeld, Leen, and Collinear AI. Previously, Pramod was Director of Corporate Strategy/Venture Capital at VMware, advising senior leadership on product, growth, and M&A while investing in startups such as JFrog (IPO), CloudEndure (acq. by AWS), Armis (acq. by Insight), GuardiCore (acq. by Akamai), Wavefront, VeloCloud (acq. by VMware), and Affirmed Networks (acq. by Microsoft). In today's episode, we discuss his journey from an operator to corporate venture capital and then to traditional venture capital, as well as investing in AI. This is a unique episode—you'll find very few VCs with a career trajectory like Pramod’s. ⌛ Timestamps: Trailer + Intro (0:00)CVC vs. traditional VC: key similarities (3:45)How CVCs are structured & incentivized (6:39)The mandates & investment thesis of CVCs (12:45)Investing for today vs. the future (14:45)How CVCs make investment decisions (18:25)The role of a ‘sponsor’ in CVC investments (22:44)Why should early-stage startups take CVC money? (25:00)How CVCs add value to later-stage companies (30:25)Maximizing value from CVC investors (34:10)Transitioning from CVC to traditional VC (37:50)How Pramod has helped his portfolio startups (42:00)What investors look for in AI startups (49:00)Can founders be taught to sell better? (56:15)GTM strategies for selling to enterprises (59:45)Understanding enterprise customers as a founder (1:04:27)How investors can build a personal brand (like Pramod) (1:09:15)The “so what” philosophy for founders & investors (1:13:50)Advice to younger self (1:16:03)Why being 10x is attractive to investors (1:20:35) 🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠

    1h 24m
  7. MAR 1

    E149 - From Amazon Engineer to IPO: The HyreCar Story | Anshu Bansal

    Anshu Bansal is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He co-founded Hyrecar, a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace that allows anyone to rent their cars to Uber and Lyft drivers safely and reliably. In today’s episode, learn how a late-night Uber ride in 2014 sparked a groundbreaking business idea that would reshape the ride-sharing industry in the US. Anshu takes us through his incredible entrepreneurial journey—from his programming days at H&R Block and Amazon Prime Music to building the “Airbnb for ride-share cars.” Along the way, he faced direct competition from Uber, financial struggles that nearly led to bankruptcy, and even sold his own car to keep the company afloat. Against all odds, he turned things around and ultimately took the company public in a remarkable comeback story. Learn how they validated their concept by going undercover at Uber Driver Hubs, built their first MVP using just a spreadsheet that generated $9,000 in month one, and navigated crucial pivots when faced with competition from Uber itself. ⌛ Timestamps: Introduction – The late-night Uber ride that sparked a billion-dollar idea (05:03)Early Career – From coding at Amazon & H&R Block to building startups (05:31)The Birth of Hyrecar – How one conversation turned into a game-changing business (06:31)Cracking the Business Model – How Anshu structured Hyrecar for success (08:43)Proving the Idea – The key steps that validated Hyrecar’s potential (13:13)Ignored by Uber – Why the ride-share giant didn’t see Hyrecar coming (16:25)Reinventing Car Ownership – How Hyrecar disrupted the ride-sharing ecosystem (18:36)Thriving in the Unknown – Why Anshu builds businesses in industries he knows little about (24:27)Lessons from Amazon & Microsoft – What big tech taught Anshu about scaling companies (26:53)Hiring in Startups vs. Big Tech – The biggest differences founders must understand (30:43)The Real Meaning of Entrepreneurship – What it truly takes to build a successful startup (32:43)Personal Struggles & Entrepreneurship – How life’s challenges shape founders (35:43)Finding the Right Co-Founder – The make-or-break decision for every startup (41:08)From Near Collapse to IPO – The incredible journey of Hyrecar’s turnaround (47:41)Building a VC Fund – Why Anshu launched his own investment firm (54:43)Jumping into Cybersecurity – What made Anshu bet on an entirely new industry (56:14)The Biggest Lessons as an Operator – What years of entrepreneurship have taught him (01:01:13)Advice to His Younger Self – The hard-earned wisdom every founder should hear (01:02:03) Support the podcast: 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠Substack

    1h 6m
  8. FEB 15

    E148 - The Ultimate Founder-Led-Marketing Playbook | Aquibur Rahman (CEO, Mailmodo)

    Aquibur Rahman is the Co-founder and CEO of Mailmodo, an interactive email marketing software that helps marketers create app-like experiences in email by adding forms, shopping cart, calendar, NPS and other widgets. It helps companies collect feedback from their users, book meetings with prospects, recover abandon carts, generate leads, all within the the body of the email. The company is backed by Peak XV Partners (prev. known as Sequoia India), Y Combinator, BoldCap, Titan Capital & All In Capital.Aquib has been a marketer his entire career. Prior to founding Mailmodo, he headed marketing at Cleartax, a leading tax & investing platform, where he built and grew the practice from the ground up. And before that he had short but impactful stints at P&G, iProf Learning Solutions (I) Pvt. Ltd., and CarDekho.From a small village in Bihar to Super30, IIT Dhanbad, IIM Ahmedabad, and now the Silicon Valley, Aquib has come a long way and defied the odds at every step. Humble, soft-spoken, and incredibly knowledgeable, he brings deep insights into marketing, growth, and startup success.In today's episode, we dive deep into marketing strategies for founders and startups. Aquib shares actionable insights on why founders should position themselves as the face of their companies and how they can do it effectively, proven strategies for scaling market as a strong source of lead generation and brand building in the early stages, and a step-by-step playbook for executing founder-led marketing effectively.This is a MUST-watch episode for every founder and marketing person at startups ⌛ Timestamps: Trailer (00:00)Introduction (01:16)Episode kick-off (03:33)How did Mailmodo land its first customer? (03:47)Proven strategies to acquire your first paying customer (05:36)How Mailmodo landed Razorpay as a customer (10:33)Why design partnerships & POCs should be paid (11:55)What is "build-in-public"? What's a good playbook for it? (13:56)What is Founder-Led Marketing & why it works (18:38)The key components of a strong Founder-Led Marketing strategy (20:32)Marketing strategies that helped Mailmodo scale (22:33)How to build partnerships with lesser-known brands (25:12)Is all marketing good marketing? (25:50)The dangers of overpromising & underdelivering (27:18)Examples of founders who nailed Founder-Led Marketing (29:53)When should founders start focusing on Founder-Led-Marketing? (32:15)How customer discovery leads to marketing success (34:03)The biggest mistakes founders make in marketing (40:50)Live Marketing Workshop: Aquib breaks down a real-world example (45:01)How AI is changing SEO: What founders need to know (48:33)SEO best practices for 2025 and beyond (55:13)How AI is reshaping email marketing (59:43)How should a brand think about email marketing today? (1:01:59)Why marketing is all about building relationships (1:06:03)If Mailmodo started today, what would Aquib do differently? (1:09:19)With infinite resources, how would Aquib scale marketing? (1:10:13) 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠Substack

    1h 11m
5
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

The Desi VC, hosted by Akash Bhat, is an award-winning podcast featuring conversations with top investors & founders on trends, insights, and personal/success stories in the India-US startup ecosystem. Our purpose: As an immigrant in the US with deep roots in India, Akash explores the parallels & contrasts between Indian & US VC/tech landscapes. The podcast bridges knowledge gaps, fosters cross-cultural collaboration & celebrates 'desis' making a mark in the US.