Hyderabad: India Accelerator, an accelerator in the seed stage that helps startups grow with mentorship, networking, technology and peripheral services, will soon launch a startup seed fund. The accelerator is working with venture capitalists to provide access to financing to promising startups, which are in the early funnel phase.
Ashish Bhatia, founder and CEO, India Accelerator, said in an exclusive interview with Telangana Today: ‘We have realized India’s strengths in creating an ecosystem and a clear need for a massive private accelerator around it. to make possible. We have so far invested in more than 80 startups, which so far would yield more than $ 10 million (about 70-75 million) as follow-on financing. We focus on providing seed financing, skills and mentoring connections to startups, in addition to expanding legal, accounting and financial support. ”
He added: ‘We have developed specific programs in vertical development, such as cyber security, health technology, agritech and social impact. We are about to start a vertical for fintech. We have largely remained domain agnostic. We are not limited by any sector, but rather focused on solving problems in all vertical directions. However, we have realized that a start in each domain requires a specific and different intervention. In the future, we anticipate growth in the consumer goods segment, with equal growth opportunities in healthtech and agritech, where we see a lot of disruption. ”
Launched in 2017, the accelerator is part of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) and creates a conducive start-up ecosystem in cities II and III cities in India, leading to new job creation. Nearly 40 percent of the startup the accelerator works with comes from these cities.
In terms of criteria, India Accelerator mainly wants to support startups that have some traction and revenue. They should also have created a reasonable customer base. He adds: ‘In the industry, too much emphasis is placed on the beginning of funding, but we do not give too much weight to such achievements. We want new businesses that can solve problems in every vertical. ”
Accelerators need to work with early start-up work and encourage their innovation. India has not yet put pressure on product-based start-ups as too much emphasis is placed on the service sector, and this needs to be addressed if we are to see product innovation. India Accelerator works with IITs to help transform research into commercial products. Bhatia emphasizes that entrepreneurship in academic institutions should be encouraged.
Initial Involvement
India Accelerator has supported Hyderabad – based Roll Number Technologies, which is a platform that helps companies with the selection / background verification of employees through blockchain. Pan-India is partnering with several new ventures, including Gurugram-based Kuants, a fintech stock trading platform for retail and institutional clients and insurance in New Delhi, Samadhan. A grievance correction platform for insurance policies, in addition to other beginners.
“Through GAN, we have helped Indian startups establish their presence in world markets. We have forged ties with the Canadian government to make footprints possible there. We are also in talks with various partners in Southeast Asia and Africa. India, too, remains a huge market for new ventures, and those who have taken full advantage of this market can look to overseas market opportunities. We also help startups to work and network with each other, to bring their synergies together, ”Bhatia added.
India Accelerator has received interest from various businesses from Hyderabad and has included suitable businesses in its program. In addition to strengthening the current base in the north, it wants to build a network in the northeast and other parts of the south.
SME support
Small and medium enterprises in India are largely regarded as unfunded enterprises in India from the venture capital perspective as the enterprises cannot expand. They have been omitted from the entire ecosystem.
To address this, India Accelerator launched a dedicated SME vertical six months ago, with a revenue, equity, business and intervention model different from what we do for startups. We hold small and medium-sized businesses in different areas just as important as improving their time management practices to important aspects such as sourcing, supplier selection and the use of technology to increase efficiency and increase turnover. We have also partnered with NBFCs to meet the financial needs of small businesses, “Bhatia said.
Source: Telangana Today