New entrepreneurs get taste of fight for funds

Budding entrepreneurs pitched their ideas and vied for funding from real-time investors and venture capitalists at IIT-Bombay on Friday.

An initiative of the institute’s Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell), the event saw over 20 teams participate in “Vulture’s Nest” — a more aggressive form of “investor pitch”.

“We came to know about our start-up, our key areas, and the market,” said Edul Patel, a student of IIT-B, who works with an early stage start-up, a clean-tech company.

While teams got five minutes to pitch their idea, there was a 15-minute interaction with investors.

“It is an event where teams are actually competing for funds,” said Rahul Khanna, director of Clearstone Venture Advisors. “they also need to know who their future competitors are likely to be.”

Out of 100 entries, 60 were selected. The city round was held on December 15. The investors included Seedfund, Mumbai Angels, Indian Angel Network, Sherpalo Ventures, Canaan Partners, and Accel Partners.

“The teams are getting a feedback from investors even if they are eliminated. The top 10 will be selected for the finals, which will be held on February 7 during the Entrepreneurship Summit,” said Digvijay Naik, media manager, E-Cell. “Depending on their potential and ability to get funds, all the 10 finalists have a shot at on-the-spot funding”

The audience for the finals will include investors and general public. The participants will get a good exposure and can even extend their customer base.