New Delhi (India), January 13: Investing in startups like ConsCent, FAARMS, and Bliv.club, Sigurd is on a spree to reach masses through digital. Sigurd looks at diversification by identifying out-of-the-box startups. Sigurd backs startups with not only funds but with industry connects, partnerships, customer acquisition, influencer connect, advertising, marketing, PR, and more. The founders, Tanmay Maheshwari and Harshit Agarwal talk about how strenuous it becomes for young entrepreneurs to find the ideal growth partner for their kickass ideas. Details on what a founder should look for while finding the right investor they share…
Getting started isn’t a piece of cake for any startup. Goes without saying, innovative products and sound business models are the core foundation of every startup. Ensuring a business idea that’s well-suited and aligned with the current market is mandatory for startups. As per a study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 91% of startups fail within the first five years of commencement the biggest reason being the lack of innovation. One can’t barge in with the products that are already in the market by slapping your nametag and expecting funds.
“The next few years are very interesting times for anybody who wants to build a pathbreaking start-up leveraging technology because that can help them capture a good long-term market share.”, says Harshit Agrawal, Founding Partner, Sigurd Ventures.
Young entrepreneurs need to figure out ‘What does your startup aim to target and offer?’ Sourcing funds can be a challenge for most startups. About 38% of startups fail due to a lack of funds. Entrepreneurs face several challenges from figuring out the right amount of funds to be raised, setting milestones, choosing the right source, checking the credibility and success/failure rate of the prospective investors, failing to keep the scope of scalability in the business model, and more.
Examining the process by working hands-on must be the first and foremost step. Building an open-end strategy and then determining the right amount of capital should be the next priority. More money is not always good. More funds lead to more liability and hence realistic financial projection is a must.
Once you’ve assessed how much money your exciting idea needs from your financing roadmap and that outside investment is the strategy for your startup, you should choose which investors to approach about the investment possibility. Entrepreneurs need to understand that every venture capital fund or group of investors has a distinct investing objective.
While vetting potential investors, there are a few things that you must keep in mind. Is it only funding that is required or do you need a pool of resources, reach to social media influencers, and industry connections too? Also, the entrepreneurs must determine the ideal range of the target financing round.
Entrepreneurs must look for investors with extensive business experience and know-how of the relevant industry, other investments with complementary services to your business, collaborative approach to assist founders to enhance the company’s investment appeal and branding. It takes much more than funds to build a startup. Investors that provide a pool of resources, business acumen to fill in the gaps of a business plan, relevant skills, brand marketing opportunities, influencer connect, and a history of successful business building and exits works the best.
To avoid giving investors the impression that the opportunity has been heavily shopped before they see it, make sure your opportunity is brand new. After approaching your first set of investors, you might want to hold off on attempting again with the following group until you’ve reached your following milestone.
As per the data from Venture Intelligence, Indian startups raised over $1.27 billion in funding in November 2022. The fundings have mostly been led by early and growth-stage startups in the last five months of the year. The market is bouncing back and investors also use similar criteria to evaluate big-shot startups.
Investment in Indian Startup in 2022
| MONTHS | FUNDING AMOUNT (IN $M) |
| JAN – MARCH | 12,000 |
| APRIL – JUNE | 7,000 |
| JULY – SEPTEMBER | 2,500 |
| OCT – DECEMBER | 3,000 |
“Startup funding in India is arduous. Entrepreneurs must look for synergy partners that help with the right messaging, product-market fit, appropriate branding, and marketing channels to connect with the intended audience enabling them to unlock the potential value of distinct business ideas. Finding the right investor who can help you fine-tune your go-to-market strategy can be a game changer”, says Tanmay Maheshwari, Founding Partner, Sigurd Ventures.
About Sigurd: Sigurd Ventures (sigurdventures.com) is a founder-focused fund backing startups having scalable solutions for real-life problems. Providing startups with a platform for innovation and scale, it is promoted by Amar Ujala Publications and Shanti Group. Sigurd Ventures leverages the family offices of the promoters of Amar Ujala and Shanti group to bring in the full might of an illustrious industrial conglomerate and one of the largest media houses in the country. Experience in Power, Mining, Oil and Gas, Construction, Sustainable technologies, Logistics, Media, and New age segments means startups across a variety of segments get mentors, funding, access to markets, and visibility at the highest levels with Sigurd Ventures.
Sigurd leverages the strengths of the partners and its network for businesses to grow, enabling startups to scale through the capital, domain knowledge, network, and high-visibility influencers. With a team of Strong promoters, Partners, and advisors, Sigurd is focused on identifying and nurturing startups that are solving real-life problems and have a global playfield. Sigurd is leveraging the wide network of mentors and influencers from these two-family offices to help startups scale up their businesses and accelerate growth.
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