Venture Catalysts forayed into Pune to drive the innovation quotient of entrepreneurs in the city
Pune, August 31, 2018: Venture Catalysts, India’s no.1 integrated incubator, is leaving no stone unturned to raise the levels of innovation and foster entrepreneurship in the country. Largest integrated incubator has launched its operations in Pune on August 31, 2018.The event took place at Spacers Co Working 5, BJ Road, Above Godrej Interio, Showroom, Next to Hotel Woodland, Sandhu Vaswani Chowk, Camp, Pune – 411001 witnessed 100+ investors and major startup ecosystem players took part in panel discussions and startup pitches marked the VCats’ operational expansion into the city.
Mrs. Shweta Shalini, Executive Director, Maharashtra Village Social Transformation Foundation graced the launch event as chief guest. She addressed audience with power packed talk on building social economy in India.She also highlighted that how the Maharashtra government is extremely bullish to make Pune as the startup hub of country.
Mr. B.C Bhartia, Bhartia Group delivered the keynote address post which, Mr. Manish Gandhi, Managing Partner, Venture Catalysts Pune and Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder and President, Venture Catalysts presented the welcome address. The launch witnessed some enlightening contributions and perspectives of thought leaders at the event. The first panel discussion on “The Role of Angle investors in Fostering Entrepreneurship” moderated by CA Anuj Golecha – Co-founder of VCats and the session featured prominent speakers such as Mr. Siddharth Raisoni, Watertown Realtors, Mr. Darshan Doshi, FLAME University, Mr. Abhishek Agarwal, Rockstud Capital, and Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder & President, Venture Catalysts.
After the enriching panel discussions Founder of Kalpnik Technologies and Ex-Directors of Intel & GenNext Ventures (a Reliance sponsored funds) shared his entrepreneurial journey with the audience
The second panel discussion was on “Creating Multi Million Dollar companies” moderated by Mr. Rohit Lalwani, Avantika University had the panelists like Mr. Ankush Tiwari, Mobilya Technologies, Mr. Patanjali Somayaji, Walnut App, Mr. Krishna Depura, Mind Tickle and Mr. Abhijit Gupta, Praxify.
After the enriching panel discussions, Q&A rounds took place for the audience. Post the second panel IIMCalcutta alumnus, Lalit Menghani, the Founder of Home Capital shared his entrepreneurial journey with the audience.
Commenting on the launch, Manish Gandhi, Managing Partner, VCats Punesaid, “Pune is one of the most prominent startup hubs in the country. Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis has proposed to make the city India’s number one destination for startups by 2020. This clearly signifies the potential for startups in Pune. Already, the city is well-known for a large number of startups in the fintech, edutech and healthtech space, along with manufacturing and IT companies. We are happy to have expanded in Pune and look forward to driving the continued success of the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder & President, Venture Catalysts said, “We have witnessed an efficient startup ecosystem developing in the city of Pune. Having recognized this trend and the potential of Pune, we decided to extend our services in the city. We want to further foster entrepreneurship and unlock the potential of inchoate business ventures in the city by offering networking and finance opportunities. We are highly pleased to announce the launch of our operations in the city, which is sure to pave the way for several successful startups here.”
Anuj Golecha, Co-Founder, Venture Catalysts said, “The city of Pune has exactly the right ecosystem to bring the entire community of existing angel investors together on a single platform. We look forward to creating a new set of angel investors from the existing HNIs and businessmen from the city. In addition to driving startup growth, our launch in Pune will enable the investor community to actively engage with the startup community in helping them grow and scale.”
The Pune launch is a part of VCats’ ongoing endeavour to facilitate business knowledge and technical acumen to entrepreneurs across the country. The launch of VCats in Pune is sure to further boost the startup ecosystem in the city and help all budding entrepreneurs grab the right opportunities along with mentorship and access to funds.
