Is there a YC-like VC in India? | Hacker News Reader

Is there a YC-like VC in India?

8 pointssubbu13 comments

I am working on a startup idea for the last few months. I have completed about 80% of the product. I have shown it a few friends and the feedback has been pretty good. I now want to approach VC's and raise some money. Not much but to cover these: 1) hosting bills, 2) get a decent visual design for the app, and 3) sustain for a few months.

The VC scene in India is a bit different compared to the US. Most of the VCs back established companies or ones with established founders. I am looking for a YC-like firm who can back people with good technical abilities and/or working demos. Any help? I can show a fully functional demo to interested parties. Thanks much.

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AFAIK, there is no YC like firm in India. That said, there are plenty of angel investors, VC's, etc.

From a linkedin Q&A on Indian VC scene [http://www.linkedin.com/answers/finance-accounting/financing...] 1. US firms in India (Sequoia, Greylock, Matrix, Mayfield, Sherpalo/KP etc.) 2. Domestic funds (Helion, Nexus and a few others) 3. Angel groups / funds (Seed fund, Mentor, Band of Angels)

Good luck!

Thanks for the link Prakash. As I said before the VCs listed in the above link take the traditional route to investing. In a different context I did get in touch with Band of Angels. But the questions they asked were in the lines of "how much sales do you have?" "What's the current revenue?" etc. Those questions suggest what type of companies/teams they would be willing to back. I am more of a programmer than a person who can answer those questions. I am looking for someone like PG who can look at the demo I have built and see if it makes sense and then back the idea. I am expecting the VC to help me with things like revenue and sales.

If there is nothing like YC, then I guess I'll have to take the hard route of finding a suitable VC or angel.

Try the Seed fund. Erasmic Ventures.

If you are in b'lore ping me via email to chat offline.

I am a native of Bangalore but work in Hyderabad currently. Do you mind giving me your email id? Mine is subramani.athikunte@gmail.com

You can still apply to YC in the USA wherever you are in the world, but it might be tricky getting into the USA. I'd still apply; you can hack your way to a visa later.

There's a lot of room for YC clones in India and the rest of the world, but there is no South or East Asian YC yet.

The idea that I am working on addresses a need in the Indian market. So it makes sense to find something here. That apart I am not in a position to move to the US.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway :)

it is really difficult to hack into a US visa from India ....

I wonder if Europe would be easier in any way. Granted, the economic scene is not like the US, but it might be worth a shot?

My experience in Europe as a non-European says that it probably isn't any easier, but who knows - I was dealing with Italy, which is not really what you're interested in in any case.

You may come across some seed funding VC's at proto.in ( http://www.proto.in/proto2007se/aboutus.shtml )

try if this suits ur needs http://www.nirmalabs.org/, U will have to leave your day job and attend their college for few months though!

Doesn't suit me.

This may help you as well ...

http://www.business-standard.com/smartinvestor/storypage.php...

If US visa is not possible then you can visit Australia - please visit following link ...

http://www.linkedin.com/in/randleebdutoit

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