One Indian startup raised capital every six hours in 2022! And this was despite the funding winter setting in after the proverbial FOMO of venture capital investors catapulted the local startup ecosystem to the bigger global stage with several dozen unicorns the year before.
Despite the challenges, the entrepreneurial revolution in India is here to stay, with startup pitches being showcased on reality shows and a growing community of founders with diverse backgrounds and experiences. However, being an entrepreneur requires more than just creating a product and developing a strategy; founders must also manage finances, HR, marketing, and other aspects of their business.
To further engage with the founders and provide them a platform for discussion and learning, VCCircle is launching its debut edition of Founders' Forum on 15th June. The half day summit will bring together successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences and discuss new challenges, providing a valuable opportunity for the next generation of startup founders to learn from their peers and seniors.
How can founders create the right leadership talent pool to take over the reins in the future, with or without necessarily hanging their boots.
As the local startup ecosystem matures, we see an ever-growing tribe of serial entrepreneurs, or those who are now on their second or third startup ride. Some of them could be ‘serial-winners’ while others have seen a venture or two get folded. What are the key takeaways from past ventures that helped them in a new startup? What are the pitfalls that one managed to avoid from the real-life experience as a newborn? How was a pivot essential to finding the right calling?
Entrepreneurs juggle with multiple challenges each day. Customer delight is the front-facing task but founders need to tackle multiple curveballs every day in the backroom. It is equally important for founders to find a balance to maintain their physical and mental health quotient. How do founders achieve the mythical work-life balance amidst the thousand-ton lodestone on their shoulders?
Several startups have seen cofounder conflicts leading to inferior outcomes for the company, investors and other stakeholders. How can founders ensure the delicate balance of their partnership is maintained with division of roles, stake, compensation and more.
The epic momentum of 2021 slowed down in 2022; from $4.7 billion raised in January 2022 to $1.3 billion in November. The cost of capital has escalated, and investors have become more cautious to deploy capital as they were earlier.
Is it real? Will it end the dreams of the start-ups? Will it force start-ups to brace for another 12-18 months before capital flow ease? What are the best practices in a drought?
Ankit Agrawal is the CEO and Co-founder of InsuranceDekho, the leading Insurtech in India. Launched in 2017, InsuranceDekho has achieved rapid growth, with the company growing 2x every year. The Gurgaon based company has 90,000+ advisor partners across 1370+ cities covering 98% pin codes in India. With 410+ insurance plans in tie-up with 46 insurance companies, InsuranceDekho is on its way to revolutionize the way India buys and sells insurance.
Ankit is also the recipient of several awards including being a part of the coveted BusinessWorld 40 under 40 list for year 2022.
In order to move closer to its vision of insuring every Indian, InsuranceDekho recently raised $150Mn in Series A funding from marquee investors like Goldman Sachs, TVS Capital and LeapFrog Investments; this is the largest Insurtech Series A funding in South East Asia.
A Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, and a graduate from the Department of Financial Studies, University of Delhi, Ankit worked for three years in the US before returning to India. Post returning, Ankit was associated with the technology industry as a part of Anand Rathi Advisors. Here, he developed an interest in startups and soon joined MoveInSync, a leading employee transport solutions startup in the country.
Ankit has set up and exponentially grown the Insurance business at CarDekho, with InsuranceDekho being formed in 2019 as a separate entity. InsuranceDekho has today become a leading player and an integral voice of the Indian Insurtech industry.
Ankit is passionate about startups and actively supports new businesses & founders in all ways possible; he’s an active angel investor having invested in several high-impact ventures. Outside of work, he enjoys playing with his son and cooking food for the family. Being an avid reader, he reads at least eight books a month. Ankit firmly believes education is the greatest leveler in anybody’s life. He coaches the children of his house help and driver because he feels education is the greatest gift to impart.
Harsh Parekh is the Co-Founder and Whole-time Director of API Holdings, India's largest digital health platform. The group has businesses and brands like PharmEasy, Retailio, DocOn, Aknamed, and Thyrocare.
Harsh finished his graduation in computer engineering from DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering and post that he did his MBA in Marketing from NMIMS in 2009-2011. He was the founder member of Ekagrata (NGO for Children's education), ACM (International student body), and Secretary of Rotaract Club. He started his career ITC and then joined Bharti Airtel as part of Young Leader Group. After briefly working for one year, he decided to start the entrepreneurship journey with two friends. They are the first health tech unicorn and recently created history by acquiring the listed company Thyrocare.
Harsh looks after the Channel and Platform Business and has been responsible for scaling the business over the last 9 years. He leads the group's efforts in retailer, hospital, fintech and brands. He has recently been featured in the Fortune 40 under 40 lists and is now an active angel investor in new-age companies.
Priyanka Gulati currently a Partner with Grant Thornton in HR Consulting practice comes with 20 years of experience, from leading professional firms (Accenture & Deloitte) and also has experience in running her own consulting firm. She has focused on organizational strategy and transformation, human capital strategy and leadership development performance management, and learning and development for leading organizations.
Priyanka is also on Boards of SGS Teknik’s, Krishna Maruti Ishizaki Limited and Talbros as Independent Director. She also heads the National level FICCI Flo Angel Investing and has invested in 15+ startups.
She is passionate about bridge.
Sai Deo, is a member of our Private Equity and Retail practices.
She works closely with our financial investors practice, advising global and India-based investors across a range of topics including asset identification, commercial due diligence, and portfolio strategy.
Sai has also worked extensively with multiple digital insurgents based out of India and the Middle East on a wide range of topics, including international expansion strategy, ecosystem development, M&A and post-merger integration, commercial excellence, and new business incubation.
Sai earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.
Along with client work, Sai has been a frequent voice on topics related to PE/VCc like - private equity investments in startups. She has been one of the lead co-authors of Bain’s flagship reports titled “India Venture Capital Report 2023” & “India Venture Capital Report 2022”
Vivek Tiwari is the Founder and CEO of Medikabazaar, India’s largest online platform for medical supplies.
He is known as an innovator, entrepreneur, and the doyen of the healthcare ecommerce business. Vivek founded MEDIKABAZAAR as a one-stop solution for medical procurement in cities ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4, with the goal of revolutionising healthcare and enhancing patient care. It is because of his vision that MEDIKABAZAAR now has a presence in 20,000+ pin codes, serves 2 lac hospitals, and has 7 lac+ SKUs.
Vivek is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, he has an extensive experience in leadership roles which he was designated at prominent global conglomerates like Nestle S.A., Telenor, Maxis Telecom, and Tata Group.
He is a distinguished member of the consortium of ace professionals in the Global Medical Devices sector. At the same time, he is also an independent board member at a global regulatory and marketing organization for medical devices. Starting the company in 2015, he has been able to achieve significant success in making Medikabazaar as India’s largest B2B HealthTech platform.
Vivek has received many industry accolades, including:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekt/
https://www.facebook.com/supervivekt/
https://twitter.com/supervivekt
TVS Capital Funds or TCF is one of the leading growth PE funds in India. Since its beginning in 2007, TVS Capital has been anchored on the philosophy of partnering “next-gen” entrepreneurs, their building scalable and successful businesses.
TVS Capital Funds is dedicated to backing businesses that align with India’s growth story. The platform focusses on portfolio value creation by bringing in capability through its vast network of industry leaders, advisors and partners.
TCF was founded by Gopal Srinivasan, a third-generation entrepreneur of the TVS Family with a vision to provide financial and capability capital to Empower India’s NextGen entrepreneurs.
The TCF team consists of an experienced investment team with deep sectoral knowledge, supported by an eclectic ecosystem that works with them in supporting entrepreneurs in building businesses. The team is currently actively investing from TCF’s 3rd fund, TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3, which has commitments of ~?1,900 crore.
TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3 is backed by key domestic financial institutions, family offices and high net worth individuals, many of whom have been associated with TCF since inception. It is noteworthy to mention that entire gains generated through our investments from the Fund stay in India.
JLL is India’s premier and largest professional services firm specialising in real estate. The Firm has grown from strength to strength in India for the past two decades. JLL India has an extensive presence across 10 major cities (Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Coimbatore) and over 130 tier-II and III markets with a cumulative strength of close to 12,000 professionals. The Firm provides investors, developers, local corporates, and multinational companies with a comprehensive range of services. These include leasing, capital markets, research & advisory, transaction management, project development, facility management and property & asset management. These services cover various asset classes such as commercial, industrial, warehouse and logistics, data centres, residential, retail, hospitality, healthcare, senior living, and education. For further information, please visit jll.co.in.
VCC Events opens up the avenues for participation. Join hands to be a part of India’s largest gathering of alternative investments leaders, industry stakeholders and Asia’s influential limited partners, general partners and marquee advisors. Your chance to actively participate and augment yourself as thought leaders.
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