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Indiantelevision.com Team
(15 October 2007 3:00 PM)
MUMBAI: Seedfund, an early-stage venture
capital fund, has taken an undisclosed stake in
media publication
Agencyfaqs.
Seedfund managing partner Pravin Gandhi
said, "Over the years, agencyfaqs! has become
the de facto voice and vehicle of the
influential media and marketing segment in
India. We see a strong future in how the brand
can grow from online and print to other mediums
– and also from India to other
geographies."
Banyan Netfaqs founder and chairman
Shreekant Khandekar said, "The team at Seedfund
understand the media and marketing business very
well – and we share a vision of how we can grow
to become an even stronger brand over the years.
These are exciting times and you should stay
tuned for other
announcements."
Venture money is ultimately
public money, it is raised from public capital
pools, tells Seed Advisors Pvt. Ltd’s chief
financial officer Anand
http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/06004701/8216No-source-of-capital-fo.html
Snigdha Sengupta
Mumbai: Mumbai-based Seed
Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which raised a $15 million
(Rs59 crore today) fund called Seedfund early
this year, is one of India’s
handful of venture investors that focus
exclusively on providing seed capital to
start-ups. It invests Rs1-5 crore per company
and has invested in firms such as Printo
Document Services Pvt. Ltd, Banyan Netfaqs Pvt.
Ltd and Carwale.com.
Given the firm’s focus on young
entrepreneurs, Seedfund’s management team often
has to take on a mentoring role prior to
assuming an investing role. Chief financial
officer Anand Lunia spent last Sunday at a
funding workshop on-campus at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Luniya, a former entrepreneur who
co-founded and profitably exited Brainvisa, an
e-learning firm, in 2005, spoke to
Mint about connecting with
start-ups and Seedfund’s run so far. Edited
excerpts:
What value does Seedfund derive
from such (IIT Bombay workshop) forums?
The objective of these workshops is
to de-mystify venture capital. My aim is to
throw light on how venture capitalists make
money and what are the various ways to raise
money from venture capitalists. Venture money is
ultimately public money, it is raised from
public capital pools such as pension and
education trusts. So, it is important that the
public understands where this money goes and
what it does.
What differentiates you from other
early-stage funds?
Seedfund is a unique fund in India.
There is virtually no source of capital
available for young entrepreneurs who have no
family backing. Such entrepreneurs need Rs1-2
crore to start up. But more than money, they
need advice and mentoring support.
A lot of entrepreneurs who come to
us don’t have access to experts. Therefore,
alongwith funding, we have also decided to get
into the education of entrepreneurs. Part of
that is achieved through such
workshops.
How many business plans do you turn
away on an average?
A lot of the business plans that
come to us are very raw. They need a lot of work
before they get to the stage when they can pitch
for funding.
Sometimes it takes a month or more
to fine-tune a business plan. If we like an
idea, but it needs work, we prefer to spend that
time on the plan and then consider it for
funding. We don’t turn away a plan just because
it is not complete.
What about the quality of
entrepreneurs at this stage of
funding?
See, most of the business plans we
get are not prepared by investment bankers and
the entrepreneurs don’t have an Ivy League
education. So, 80% of the plans we get are not
good. However, the remaining 20% are
extremely creative. The quality of ideas we get
is very
high.
Ruchi Hajela, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 01, 2007
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=afe12dc5-5720-44b4-9afb-dd74e9a48855
Want to travel to Jaipur from Delhi or Bangalore to Hyderabad>?
Eager start-up companies are pioneering a
revolution on the roads, with websites that help
you book bus-tickets at the click of a mouse.
Like in the case of airline-driven travel
portals, these involves search technologies and
an entrepreneurial drive that helps offline
deliveries.
During a Diwali break two
years ago in Bangalore, Phanindra Sarma, who
used to be with micro-chip maker Texas
Instruments, struggled in a traffic jam to get a
ticket to reach his hometown. Thanks to that
trouble, he founded redBus.in, for which he
joined hands with former IBM-mer Sudhakar
Paspunuri and Honeywell executive Charan
Padmaraju.
The company now has tie-ups
with more than 170 bus partners across
India,
connecting farflung places that include small
dots on the maps like Chittorgarh, Fatehpur and
Davangere.
It sells over 500 tickets a
day earning revenues from partnership
commissions. Like in the case of airline
bookings, a printout serves as the ticket. You
can select your seat online and also get tickets
home delivered by paying an extra Rs
20.
"Those who do not have a credit card
can also pay once the ticket is home delivered,"
Mayank Bidwatka, head of marketing at Red Bus,
told Hindustan
Times.
For those residing
in Western India, Ticketvala.com owned by Travis
Internet Private Limited, a company funded by
Footprint Ventures and set up by travel industry
professionals, offers a load of options. These
include add-ons such as hotel and car
reservations, and even a phone-in option for
destinations not listed on the site.
"The share of bus bookings in the total
online booking market is in single digits today,
but we do believe it has a lot of potential in
addressing the pain points of the end consumer,"
says Haranath Lokanadham, Ticketvala's chief
executive officer.
The business is also
seeing competition grow. South-centred
Customerneedz.com a firm founded by a graduate
of IIM, Bangalore>,
connects 200 cities and only allows credit-card
or online payments. But it is planning to
introduce live chat help. It also allows
cancellations on the Net.
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What
role do innovation and entrepreneurship play in
a burgeoning economy like India?
Entrepreneurship
and innovation are the engines for growth and
play a pivotal role. If we do the right kind of
innovation, we can create markets that did not
exist before. It is important to put the
innovation to testing and see how it works in
the market.
However,
historically Indians have not been too open to
innovation since most are averse to risk-taking.
Also there’s been a lapse between the
public-private relationships which in-turn
inhibited the quality and amount of innovation
in our country. Fortunately, the scenario has
changed a bit in the recent past with the onset
of various forms of support mechanisms.
- Do
you see any difference in the nature & level
of Indian innovation and entrepreneurship from
what it was a decade ago?
Indian innovation
and the form of entrepreneurship have evolved a
lot. Entrepreneurs in our country have matured
as well. There’s a much better awareness about
commerce, profit, wealth creation etc. The other
bright side is there are many more opportunities
now; a range of opportunities which did not
exist a decade ago. It was just IT a decade ago,
now you see great deal of innovation and
entrepreneurship in hospitality, telecom,
education, BPO and many more.
The other interesting change that’s come about is the
social evolution - the quality of legal and
financial systems, support mechanisms,
attitudinal/ mindset change towards innovation
and entrepreneurship.
- How
does the rise in Indian entrepreneurship impact
the Indian workforce if at all? Does it lead to
greater employment?
There is a
dichotomy here. There is enough employable
population in our country yet not enough well
trained and skilled workers for the jobs
created. Once an entrepreneur starts on, s/he
does not find good enough entrepreneurial
workforce. So, even though employment generation
happens, it’s hard to sell the idea to those
with the cushy jobs to quit and join
start-ups.
- Apart
from top management institute grads (IIMs), most
others don’t get enough support and funding for
entrepreneurial ventures. What is the best
solution for this issue?
Firstly, funding
people should quit the notion of IIM grads being
the smartest and be more prudent in their
evaluation. They need be more open and flexible
to the 2nd tier institutes and engage
actively with them. While the 2nd
tier institutes on their end should also create
incubators and build reasonable support around
them. You need to create an environment which
boosts young entrepreneurial minds e.g. get
experienced people whom these budding
entrepreneurs can interact with and learn from
apart from the physical space (lab, computers,
room etc).
- Which
are the sectors/industries that have witnessed
maximum amount of innovation and
entrepreneurship in the recent
years?
Technology driven
sectors and industries have undoubtedly been the
biggest gainers in this area. Historically,
venture funds have gone into technology driven
businesses. The reason here being, whichever
business model requires large capital calls for
a higher degree of risk and the ROI may not be
high initially. On the other hand, technology
driven businesses often don’t need large capital
investment.
The other sector which is undergoing a lot of innovation and
entrepreneurship is education. Lots of people
are getting into it especially in the domain of
finishing schools since that is the need of the
hour to bridge the gap between the demand and
supply of manpower. Education today is not just
about building schools/institutes but more so
about creating an intellectual property. So a
lot of innovation in terms of what is being
taught and how it is being taught is happening
in the country now.
The other two
sectors which have witnessed a lot of
entrepreneurship and innovation are telecom and
hospitality.
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