Indian startup ventures seek Chinese funding

In line with the Indian Government's agenda to promote a spirit of entrepreneurship among young Indians, the country's embassy in China staged its second Startup India Investment Seminar in Beijing on Monday.

The second Startup India Investment Seminar is held in Beijing on Monday. [Photo courtesy of Indian Embassy in Beijing]

The embassy organized the event in partnership with the Startup India Association (SIA) and Venture Gurukool, which is involved in the provision of initial startup venture capital. The first seminar was held in Beijing in November 2017, designed to seek funding from Chinese investors.

A total of 42 Indian entrepreneurs, representing 20 startup business ventures, took part in this year's event, each making a pitch for funds to an audience of around 350, mostly representing Chinese Venture Capital (VC) funds, as well as a number of angel investors.

According to a press release from the Indian Embassy the participating startups were: Tripshelf (travel), OfficePass (Rental Solutions), Snapmint (shopping/marketing), Sattviko (Food), Roar Media (Media), Roadpiper (logistics), Numbermall (e-commerce), NirogStreet (Ayurvedic medicine), Moengage (marketing), log9 Materials (new energy vehicle), Eremedium (health-education), HomeCapital (housing finance), HalaPlay (online gaming), Grabonrent (rental solutions), Golive Games (online gaming), Eshopbox (e-commerce), Confirmtkt (travel), Ambee (environment), Scholr (education), and Bisbo (media).

In a keynote opening speech, Mr. Acqino Vimal, Deputy Chief of Mission, said that India's youthful demography, rapid economic growth and fast-paced urbanization and its challenges work as hotbed for growth of Indian entrepreneurs and startup ecosystem, as well as provide them opportunity for offering unique, innovative, and affordable solutions for these challenges, and encouraged Chinese investors to take part in the development process of India growth story through investing in Indian startups.

Mr Zheng Bin, CEO of ICBC India, shared the Chinese bank's experience in India, gave an overview of the local startup ecosystem and how to invest in it. He said ICBC India had established a US$200 million fund for investing in promising Indian MSMEs and ventures.

Jason Wang, President of ZVCA, and Ms. Joanna Hao of Beluga Global, appealed to Chinese VCs for greater exchanges between Indian and Chinese startup ecosystems.

During the seminar, a report "India – China: Startups & Beyond" by KPMG, giving detailed account of Indian startup ecosystem and why it is right place for making venture investments, was released.

To discuss effective strategy for Chinese VCs to enter the Indian startup market and share their experiences, a panel discussion was organized, involving Mr Ashish Wadhwani (Ivy Cap Ventures), Mr Pei- Fu Hsieh (01 VC), Mr. Pan Song (QiGoal Capital) and Mr Mahendra Swarup (SIA) as panelists and moderated by Mr. Gurpreet Singh (ATM Ventures).

In last year's seminar, four of the 12 startup ventures seeking Chinese investment were successful, obtaining US$15 million. The organizers hoped this figure would be doubled this time round, with seven to eight startups gaining some funding.