The title of an entrepreneur is for the one who is seeking and seizing new and good opportunities as he grows. Entrepreneurs are mostly known for their risk-taking or rather risk-seeking nature to make their big fortunes and fame. Today in India, almost everyone carries around the tag of an entrepreneur, but to be one, it takes you to go through a tough path of handwork, knowledge, and never say die attitude. But like any other great flying machine, it also requires some fuel to take off. An entrepreneur must give his firm the initial fund pool to help him make his mark. Raising funds is difficult if you do not belong to a prosperous household or can afford to bootstrap. In the Indian subcontinent, there are loads of funding bodies and individuals with a good fortune who can help you to set up your business. Still, getting them interested in your project is not easy if you are a newcomer. We are looking down various options that are available to you. Read on to know what your options are when funding requests are rejected.
These are the major options that are well-suited for newcomers, according to Indian Market experts. The most important part is to identify your industry type and target only the VC’s working to develop your chosen industry. This will make the things easy for you to go around and get things moving.
Individual Angel Investors
In India, over 300 angel investors are not interested in getting associated with any of the Networks for funding startups. They are interested in projects referenced by big names among analysts and investors. They generally take the word of prime investors. You can locate such names according to the city your startup is placed in and is planning to work in as well.
Investor Networks
There are 15 top Angel Investors Networks in India. Still, the top names such as Indian Angel Network, Hyderabad Angels, Mumbai Angels, and Harvard Angels are seen as the primary investor’s networks. IAN is the best, considering the number of deals they have done and the multiple events they keep on organizing to promote new entrepreneurs. There are various lead men of such organizations who decide on moving forward to deal with you or not. You must identify and engage them in your project to get things moving.
Smaller Seed Stage investors
There are 7 of these that matter. Nexus VP, Blume Ventures, 5 ideas, Angel Prime, 500 startups, India Internet Fund and Seed fund. These various small seed funding are great options for those looking for smaller amounts to test run or for a pilot project. The presentations for funding have to be well descriptive in your projected plans for at least a year.
Angel Investors from the US
The US-based angel investors are out there who willingly invest in good projects for better startups. However, the distance between the two nations makes it difficult for them to trust Indian entrepreneurs. Though if you know someone personally in the US who can present your projects and become the mediator between you and the investor before the meeting is set up then it will make your task a little easy. But we will suggest that you go for this option only if you have a direct link and you have a well-detailed project report and some basic accelerators setup for your company.
IT Company CEOs
Indian IT sector is a major success in the nation, and the turnover of these companies is very high. These companies are led by very strong-minded and great personalities who hold CEO positions because of their knowledge and respect towards the technical revolution that is surging in the nation. These individuals are interested in investments in smaller ambitious projects which can support the giants they are leading with better outsourcing options. If you try hard and with a little luck, you can reach them and get better and bigger value grants that will not only help you in monetary terms but also get an initial breakthrough.
Final Words
We hope that this will be a great help to all the budding Indian entrepreneurs to arrange funds for their newly started startups.
