Budding Indian entrepreneurs are being offered an angelic helping hand by VentureNursery, a start-up mentoring outfit.
The idea behind VentureNursery is based on boot camps, which can help emerging entrepreneurs find the right kind of funding for their business.
The founders said India was bursting with great business notions, but lacks proper funding routes and the right advice.
"An entrepreneur needs support and know-how to get the business … off the ground. In India there is lots of good business ideas and passionate people, but there has been a real lack of proper mentoring of these businesses. This is where we are planning to step in," said Shravan Shroff, the co-founder of VentureNursery.
The boot camps are set to run twice a year followed by a Dragons' Den-style presentation to a group of angel investors, similar to the television reality show in which contestants pitch their ideas to potential funders. In addition to the boot camp, VentureNursery also accepts start-ups for its tracking programme, in which entrepreneurs get to be part of its angels-in-residence coaching programme.
The men behind the venture know what they are doing, because they are all serial entrepreneurs. Ravi Kiran is the co-founder of the growth advisory firm Friends of Ambition, and the former chief executive for South East and south Asia at Starcom MediaVest Group. Mr Shroff, in turn, is the man behind Fame Cinemas, a cinema exhibition business, and South Yarra Holdings, an investment company.
Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, the former head of Indian Angel Network, has joined VentureNursery as the executive vice-president.
Many Indian businesses fail to secure funding because of a lack of proper mentoring, experts say. More than 200 businesses in Mumbai apply for funding with angel networks every month, but on average only about six will get to pitch their ideas to investors. Only one or two will secure any cash.
VentureNursery will be initially focusing on sectors such as media and entertainment, retail, e-commerce, education and clean technology, because of the founders' backgrounds. But it will expand to cover most sectors, the founders said. The trio did not create their start-up kindergarten just for the love of it. VentureNursery is in it for profit - it plans totake an equity portion in the start-ups it will help grow.
The seasoned entrepreneurs are keen on helping the country's young entrepreneurs, but sayany qualifying company needs to have the right attributes in place.
"We look at robust business model, commitment from its founders, and … whether the venture is going to make money. We seek confidence and chemistry between individual members of the team as well as, at the heart of it all … commercial viability of the business," said Mr Kiran. "It's all about being prudent and staying in focus."
One company that knows about the challenge of finding the right funding is Groffr.com, a group buying site based in Mumbai. This two-year-old start-up secured aboutUS$1 million (Dh3.6m) of funding from several individuals last year.
Vikhyat Srivastava, its co-founder, said finding the money was not easy because the Indian start-up market was still at an early stage.
"If you are a small start-up, there are fewer options," Mr Srivastava said. "The climate for entrepreneurship in India is positive, but in terms of funding there is still work that needs to be done since it's not as vibrant as China or Silicon Valley." The news of VentureNursery's creation was welcomed by India's angel community.
"Current climate for start-ups in India is good for entrepreneurs, but more support is always welcome," said Anil Joshi, the vice president of Mumbai Angels, a funding network. "We have about 150 members who, on average, invest about $100,000 to $500,000 per venture, and they are always on the lookout for robust businesses."
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