WE WANT TO CREATE THE WORLD’S LARGEST INTEGRATED INCUBATOR

APOORVA RANJAN SHARMA, C0FOUNDER, VENTURE CATALYSTS, INDIA'S LARGEST INTEGRATED INCUBATOR, SAYS NATIONAL AND REGIONAL INVESTOR PLATFORMS HAVE DEMOCRATISED START-UP INVESTING. EDITED EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH BT:

▶ How has the Indian start-up ecosystem changed in the past five years?

India’s start-up ecosystem has undergone a sea change in the past one decade with the emergence of players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal. The success of these companies inspired several young professionals to take the entrepreneurial plunge. While a few founders with good pedigree managed to attract the attention of global VCs, a few had challenges even getting seed funding. In the past five-six years, however, the start-up landscape has witnessed the birth of several accelerators and incubators along with many regional angel networks. Venture Catalysts came into existence in 2016 on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Start-up India initiative. We were the first integrated incubator and accelerator in the country and in the past five years have expanded to more than 60 Tier II/III towns and cities. Hundreds of networks have come up since then.

▶ What are the reasons for the exponential growth of start-ups and more recently a record number of unicorns?

India is one of the fastestgrowing large economies in the world, with rising consumption driven by increasing incomes and an aspirational upper-middle class segment. Besides the technological innovation, wider digital connectivity with projected 900 million users by 2025 is likely to create more digitalsavvy consumers that will further boost growth. Access to cheaper data and faster internet even in the remotest parts of the country are boosting start-ups. To start a business, all one needs is a good smartphone and a decent data connection. However, the most important reason is easy access to seed capital, which was scarce till five years ago.

▶ Has availability of funds played the biggest role?

Accelerators and incubators have been able to mobilise funds and make them available for early- and idea-stage start-ups. Angel networks have brought down the startup mortality rate. Evolution of VC and angel networks has made funding and growth capital accessible while making start-ups an emerging asset class, which, in a way, has been the biggest driver of growth. The perception towards entrepreneurship is changing as India moves from a job seeker- to a job creator economy. What was seen as taboo by the society is now being awarded, as entrepreneurs are celebrated along with their failures and successes.

▶ Are funds for start-ups coming from non-metro locations, too?

Start-up investing is still very new in India and investors in smaller towns develop trust and conviction in the presence of a regional or known player. We have democratised start-up investing by creating more than 70 regional partners in 40 Indian cities. We want to break the stereotype that start-up investors can only be from metros. We started with an idea of democratising angel investing while making start-ups an asset class available to investors across Tier II/III towns of the country and also the globe. We are creating the largest community of entrepreneurs and investors globally through education and technology. We are looking to onboard 1,500+ investors in our angel fund in the next three months. We want to create the world’s largest integrated incubator.