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<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alokpatel7/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alok Patel</a> , CTO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/wizzy-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wizzy</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alokpatel7/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alok Patel</a>, CTO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/wizzy-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wizzy</a>,&nbsp; shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with 100X.VC team. &nbsp;1. How did the idea of come up?We’ve been running a Development agency before started working on Wizzy. During that period we have worked on lots of ecommerce projects, and one of the clients wanted to improve their site search experience so we started looking for search solutions built for eCommerce sites. We found a couple of good search solutions in the market but those were not built specifically for eCommerce sites. And those were too difficult to implement with very less support for Indian customers. We tried to find Indian companies which provide such solutions but those were not upto the mark and were not clearly solving the problem. That was the time we got an idea to build a search engine specifically for eCommerce websites.&nbsp;2. What made you start working on and executing this idea?We both love software products, and always wanted to build one. Finding the problem from our own customers gave us confidence to work on this idea and execute it. We developed an MVP within 4 months for go-to-market and in the next 4 months our first paid customer helped us transform into a product for many.&nbsp;3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?The decision to seek venture capital seed funding is driven by our aim to building a strong team, acquiring high-value customers, and expanding our network. We wanted the funds to attract top talent, fuel operational growth, optimize customer acquisition, and forge strategic industry connections, ensuring our sustained success in a competitive market. 4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey? At the outset of our journey, 100X has been instrumental in guiding our strategy by emphasizing the importance of focusing on one thing at a time. The invaluable advice from Mr. Sanjay, urging us to 'build inch wide, and a mile deep,' has been a cornerstone in shaping our approach. With their support, we've learned to think big and deploy funds judiciously, ensuring optimal use for maximum impact. The networking opportunities provided by 100X have opened doors to key industry connections, fostering collaboration and growth. Moreover, their involvement in our iSafe sequel funding round has not only provided financial backing but also served as a testament to the confidence 100X has in our vision, further fueling our determination to succeed. 5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, What has the pivot been?Yes, we started selling the product specifically for the apparel industry then we realized the product is beneficial to other industries such as Health &amp; Wellness, Food Tech, Home &amp; Decor etc…&nbsp; 6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?We encountered several challenges during our journey and proactively addressed them to ensure sustained growth. Team recruitment posed an initial hurdle, and to overcome it, we leveraged our experience by hiring fresh graduates directly from colleges, nurturing their talents from the ground up.Navigating the complexities of pricing strategy was eased with valuable insights from Mr. Yagnesh, providing clarity and a structured approach. Defining our target segment was streamlined with the guidance of Mr. Ninad, helping us formalize our focus.In terms of Go-To-Market (GTM), we initially explored multiple avenues and products. Through strategic evaluation, we narrowed down our focus to two key areas, streamlining our efforts for more impactful market penetration. 7. What stage is your startup at present?At present, our startup has achieved significant milestones, solidifying our position as the number one Search Solution for eCommerce in India. Our team has expanded from the initial two co-founders to a robust team of 17, fostering diverse expertise and innovation.We've experienced remarkable revenue growth, with a 15x increase, underscoring the market demand for our solution. Handling over 100 million search queries monthly, our platform has become a vital tool for eCommerce businesses. Moreover, our distribution solution is now accessible through Magento Marketplace and Shopify App Store, featuring direct API access, enhancing our reach and impact in the market. 8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?As founders, our goals for the next 1-2 years include a substantial increase in revenue and clientele, aiming for a 20x growth. We aspire to further solidify our market presence by processing over 100 million queries daily, showcasing the scalability and demand for our solution. Additionally, our strategic vision involves positioning our startup as the leading player in developed economies, with a specific focus on achieving number one status in key markets such as the UK, USA, and Australia. This entails not only expanding our user base but also deepening our impact and influence within these economies. 9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Our motivation stems from several sources that drive our commitment to innovation and excellence. Firstly, the invaluable feedback from our customers serves as a constant source of inspiration, pushing us to continuously improve and refine our search algorithm based on real-world needs.The dynamic nature of solving everyday problems, ranging from operational challenges to financial intricacies, keeps us engaged and energized. Building a product that reaches 10-20 million end users each month is a significant motivator, emphasizing the real-world impact of our efforts. Furthermore, witnessing the tangible return on investment for our customers fuels our dedication. The knowledge that our product contributes directly to the success of each brand keeps us motivated to delve deeper, ensuring we provide maximum value and impact for our clients. 10. Your message for Startup founders building in the SaaS sector?As fellow founders in the SaaS sector, we understand the challenges and excitement that come with building a startup. Embrace a 'Build for a month, take feedback, and repeat' cycle, allowing you to adapt quickly to market needs and refine your offering.Follow the 'Inch Wide and Mile Deep' methodology - focus intensely on a specific area of expertise before expanding. Your network is a valuable asset; nurture it, as your net worth often hinges on the relationships you cultivate within the industry.Consider exploring VC funding early on to validate your concept and accelerate growth. However, don't lose sight of the core: keep building your product. Distractions abound, but staying focused on your product and vision will be your guiding force. Remember, the journey is a marathon, not a sprint; perseverance and commitment to your goals will set you on a path to long-term success in the SaaS space. &nbsp;About Alok Patel:As a kid, Alok was always captivated by the world of computers. His coding journey began in the 10th grade, where he delved into a myriad of coding skills – mastering the intricacies of Frontend, Backend, and Databases, one skill at a time.By the 11th grade, Alok had already earned his first dollar through a side hustle, balancing entrepreneurship with my academic pursuits. This early exposure laid the foundation for a dual commitment to both studies and business.Stepping into the realm of a non-tech family business provided invaluable hands-on experience. Learning to communicate effectively with customers became a crucial skill in the initial days, bridging the gap between technology and user needs.His trajectory took an exciting turn when He was hired as the first tech hire at a health tech startup called KiviHealth. He saw the journey from ground zero to achieving $1 million in revenue.Before building with Wizzy, Alok embarked on several product ideas. These ventures, though not successful, provided invaluable lessons in execution and conviction. Each failure was a stepping stone towards building the resilience and determination that define my entrepreneurial spirit.Today, as the founder of Wizzy, He continues to channel his passion for technology and innovation, creating solutions that make a meaningful impact. His journey is a testament to the belief that every experience, success, and failure alike, contributes to the growth and evolution of an entrepreneur. &nbsp;

Alok Patel, CTO, Wizzy shares about his startup journey.

"The invaluable feedback from our customers serves as a constant source of inspiration, pushing us to continuously improve and refine our search algorithm."

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<a href="http://linkedin.com/in/kavin-khara-1171b417a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kavin Khara</a>, CEO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/enrico-eyewear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Enrico Eyewear</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://linkedin.com/in/kavin-khara-1171b417a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kavin Khara</a>, CEO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/enrico-eyewear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Enrico Eyewear</a>,&nbsp; shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with 100X.VC team. 1. How did the idea of Enrico come up?Enrico Eyewear was a college project during an branding class which turned into reality after working for few years post&nbsp;graduation.2. What made you start working on Enrico and executing this idea?While I was working&nbsp;with Essilor India (world's largest eyewear conglomerate) - I realized the increasing issues of eye health to the mass with absence of good and authentic quality ready-to-wear eyewear in India.3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?With increasing awareness of the category, I realised I required more funds for creating a very strong base to ensure I'm available to serve the need better.4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X gave perspective which was important to build a very strong base. The team provided mentorship, guidance. Infact they taught us how&nbsp;to say NO also to a lot of things and pushed us to take tough but right decisions required to meet the consumers need.5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, What has the pivot been?The startup has pivoted from being a company with a wide catalogue to a company with a hero - product strategy catalogue. Design has been given more importance than many other points. Our own website has been growing at a higher rate than marketplaces.6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Challenge 1: I've faced a challenge or high cost of working in Mumbai&nbsp;Solution: We shifted base to Ahmedabad and growing it from thereChallenge 2: Marketplace is just discounting the brand by becoming a price warSolution: We focused more on D2C - website growth and organic brandingChallenge 3: Wide catalogue caused brand discounting, stock issue, not able to meet recurring demandsSolution: Identified hero products and scaling in them more7. What stage is Enrico at present?Seed / Initial Revenue. R&amp;D for offline launch.8. As a founder, what are your goals for the next&nbsp;1-2 years?Launch offline in selected optical stores. Launch different lens technologies to cater to light pollution blocking needs.9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Eyewear has been my breakfast table discussion since childhood, as my father is a part of the industry since 35+ years. He always dreamt of seeing a brand in the affordable space become big and the idea of fulfilling his dream is what makes me going.10. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?The industry uses unorganised ways, I suggest follow the organised way. Let go of the short term gains and allow short term pains to have long term gains.About Kavin Khara:A graduate in double majors i.e. finance and advertising, he later Worked for 4 years in Essilor India (world's biggest eyewear company) where he handled&nbsp;revenue of 35 crores per year in sales. He has &nbsp;Past experience in advertising and marketing in colours general entertainment. &nbsp;

Kavin Khara, CEO, Enrico Eyewear shares about his startup journey.

“Embrace the structured path amidst industry chaos; let go of short-term gains to embrace long-term success one two three.”

-<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-das-8484a514b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ankit Das</a>, Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Sutram.</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-das-8484a514b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ankit Das</a>, Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Sutram</a>, shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with 100X.VC team. 1. How did the idea of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Sutram</a> come up?Rajit, Aisik, and I met when we were studying together in Jadavpur University, a well-reputed institution in Kolkata. Although known for its placement record and job offers, the three of us were adamant about “starting something of our own.”&nbsp;&nbsp;It was a particular problem statement that we came across, regarding why a brand’s convenience stores were not having good sales numbers, and the attempt to answer that question with data. That led us to discover the potential of alternate data and very soon we knew; if you are curious about it enough, you can unravel a whole new world. And that’s how Data Sutram came to being.&nbsp;2. What made you start working on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Sutram</a> and executing this idea?Once you go deep into the universe of data and AI, you realize how ingrained it is with every aspect of the world, be it finance, development, technology or whatever. It’s something everyone is always coming across or using somewhere in some way, but no one actually realizes its potential. Once we learned the potential of data we couldn’t wait to share it with the world. So many problems to solve and so many new avenues to discover. The next steps were very clearly visible, and soon “mission Data Sutram” began. We had to invest everything to enlighten not just ourselves but give millions like us the opportunity to harness this extraordinary power.&nbsp;&nbsp;3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?Very soon, our ideas started bearing fruit where we could solve real-world problem statements and help businesses utilize data and grow themselves one way or the other. And consequently, we realized the need for proper resources, as well as the financial backing to experiment and discover more and more. Luckily, we started seeking venture capital as soon as our solutions started hitting gold. We had to turn our ambitious vision into reality and take things to the next level. So capital was of course required more than just our enthusiasm. And beyond just the funding, a very important thing to have in every entrepreneur’s journey is someone else believing in your vision and validating your ideas, isn’t it? 4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?I think 100x and Sanjay Mehta coming into our lives was a blessing. What was just a random cold call in search of funds, at a time when we knew nothing much about it, quickly turned into something huge! When your vision is validated in such a manner you have nothing else to do but let yourself completely immerse in the experience, be overly joyed about raising your first check and begin shaping the future.&nbsp;We underwent a dynamic 2 weeks of mentoring where we networked with some of the most brilliant minds in the industry, interacted with fellow startup founders who share our energy and passion and learned everything there is to learn about launching a new business. And the support never ended, 100x has always been at our side and stood in the forefront to help us catapult our growth,&nbsp;&nbsp;5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, What has the pivot been?In the beginning, we had positioned ourselves as a Location Intelligence company but along the journey, we discovered countless possibilities of data! Leveraging this opportunity, we transitioned to a B2B SAAS company building multiple products driven by data and technology, helping various enterprises get answers on Markets, Growth, Consumers, &amp; Risk. So, I wouldn’t say that we have pivoted, we have simply built on our offerings by formulating ourselves into a product company. 6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Initially, we faced stiff resistance from our families! My own parents were not from an entrepreneurial background, they were skeptical about me skipping placements and starting a company from scratch. I still remember that my father had sent me MBA preparation materials when we were starting “mission Data Sutram”.&nbsp;Well, over four years into our journey, I can satisfactorily say that not just my parents, Data Sutram has successfully broken the prejudices and barriers of a new business starting from unorthodox places, and we have surpassed the expectations of the market, our own investors and many around us and convinced them to believe in our vision. There are many more hurdles to face, but I can confidently say that if you are focused and you have the right team, your persistence can overcome anything.&nbsp;&nbsp;7. What stage is<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Data Sutram</a> at present?Today, we are a growth-stage company, with a team of 60+ in various disciplines of data, engineering, product, business, and more who are working in unison to help our clients tap into the unexplored potential of Bharat. We also have an expanding senior leadership team of veterans who constantly drive us in the right direction, while providing the expertise and wisdom required for growth in a volatile economy. Of course our mentors and investors are always there to support us whenever we need them. We have also recently raised our Series A round, and are currently working with 50+ clients spanning across the BFSI, CPG, &amp; Retail sectors. Seems like the only way forward is up!&nbsp;8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?We are growing continuously in the SAAS space and we have translated data into interactive and easy-to-consume products to cater to a wide audience. Our main focus in the next year is to achieve complete product-market fit and scale our solutions across the industry. The goal is to eventually become the standard for how these products and data is consumed.We are also testing global waters and hope to be validated by a bigger audience in the next couple of years and showcase the innovations built in Bharat, to the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?As a founder and a “prior-college student” who took a chance to build on his dream, I am always motivated by the thoughts of everyone who has believed in us and is constantly working towards a vision; a vision that three college students saw but is now shared among more than 60+ people and partaken by many more businesses and individuals in some way or the other, right? I have to always keep the fire going, the drive in me to build great things.&nbsp;10. Your message for Startup founders building in this sector?For my fellow founders, I would want to highlight only two very crucial things. First, data is all-powerful. If you keep an open mind, and be curious enough to explore its hidden treasures, there is no limit to what you can do with it. And if you ever have doubts, always share your findings with the world. We will all grow together. And second, the secret sauce of success behind every great founder, is having the right team. A team that will always have your back. Your business is only as good as the team who is helping you build it. That’s it! Never take your eye off the ball. And keep going. Cheers! About <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-das-8484a514b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ankit Das</a>-&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-das-8484a514b/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ankit Das</a>, the Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/datasutram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Data Sutram</a>, excelled as a university topper in statistics and has nurtured a lifelong passion for economics. With a strong background in building and implementing econometric models for solving problems with alternate data, Ankit leads the data division at Data Sutram. He is renowned for building solutions that have leveraged data to answer questions of growth and provide intelligence. He was also featured in the Forbes - 30 under 30 list in Enterprise Technology in Asia.

Ankit Das, Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer, Data Sutram shares about his startup journey.

Data is all-powerful. If you keep an open mind, and be curious enough to explore its hidden treasures, there is no limit to what you can do with it

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- Nikhil Kalwani, Co-Founder and CFO, LUZO.&nbsp;Nikhil Kalwani, Co-Founder and CFO of LUZO, shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with 100X.VC team.&nbsp;1. How did the idea of LUZO come up?Our partner Maan’s mother owns a&nbsp; successful salon franchise of one of India’s most reputed salon brands, after 10 years in 2019 December she decided to open her own spa chain. Then in 2020 covid hit and they had to close their doors. The family faced a tough time and the three of us being close friends since junior college decided to do something and hence the idea of LUZO came up. It was an idea to help the industry which was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic digitise. 2. What made you start working on LUZO and executing this idea?The determination to help the salon industry digitise and enter into the age of technology along with the motivation to do something of our own were the two reasons for us to start up. 3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?We were very aware from the very beginning that to scale with our revenue model we needed venture capital, we knew that in the start it’s an inventory heavy model and. Hence venture capital was the route we needed to take.In metaphorical terms building a successful start-up is like crossing a stream of water, you can either take the long route and go around (Boot Strapping) or you can build yourself a bridge that bridge is venture capital.&nbsp;4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?The masterclasses were of great help for young founders such as us, we were taught what not to do and how not to make mistakes. I would go as far as to say that we were taught on how to think in the right direction. Quotes from partners like Ninad Karpe “Scale or Fail” still ring in my ears every time I start working.&nbsp;&nbsp;5. Has your start-up pivoted? If so, What has the pivot been?Post funding we have not pivoted, but between starting and receiving our pre seed we did pivot to incorporate a whole new revenue plan.&nbsp;6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Some challenges we faced are:<ul><li>Burning cash in giving discounts and having a low retention rate, this was both solved by incorporating a cash back system in our revenue plan.</li><li>The fact that we were young founders and did not have a killer instinct in the beginning, over time we started to develop more confidence and get a killer instinct.&nbsp;</li></ul>&nbsp;7. What stage is Luzo at present?<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>Over 1,00,000 downloads</li><li>3500+ appointments per month&nbsp;</li><li>400+ salons on board&nbsp;</li><li>Presence in 3 cities, Mumbai Bengaluru and Pune.</li></ul>&nbsp;8. As founders, what are your goals for the next&nbsp;1-2 years?<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>Expand to over 10 cities in India.</li><li>Build a solution for salons that will replace/add on to their current SAAS solutions.</li></ul>&nbsp;9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Passion for our vision -&nbsp;We are often deeply passionate about the problem that we are solving and the vision we are pursuing. This intrinsic motivation keeps us dedicated through challenges.&nbsp;10. Your message for Start-up founders building in the same sector?The beauty and wellness industry especially the salon industry is very unorganised and people are very hesitant towards new technology, you need to build trust and then once you start working with them show them results. It took us over a year to build trust and then another year to make a name in the industry.&nbsp;About Nikhil Kalwani:Nikhil Kalwani has worked with corporates such as Edelweiss and Deloitte for 2 years before starting&nbsp;LUZO. At the company, he manages the finances and creates business&nbsp;plans to scale LUZO in the coming years.

Nikhil Kalwani, Co-Founder and CFO, LUZO, shares about his startup journey.

The determination to help the salon industry digitize and enter into the age of technology was the motivation for us to start LUZO.

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-Amitava Saha, Co-Founder, KloudMate.&nbsp;Amitava Saha, Co-Founder of KloudMate, shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with 100X.VC team.1. How did the idea of KloudMate come up?It was during our cloud consulting days, we realised that a more simplified, yet evolved approach to Observability was the need of the hour. The existing isolated processes that customers were practicing, were not efficient for the ever-growing, complicated, distributed cloud architectures. Soon,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kloudmate.com/">KloudMate</a>&nbsp;was born.2. What made you start working on and executing this idea?Once the idea struck, we discussed and got some validation from a few of our existing customers from the consulting business. They were very encouraging and thought it was worth pursuing. Soon enough, we found ourselves writing product notes and user journeys, in a bid to build an MVP, which turned out to be a fully functional platform within 6 months.3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?While initially we wanted to bootstrap our way into go live, it was at the time of hiring Tech. resources, we realised that it wouldn’t be a sustainable model. Being a deep tech product, we needed top-notch developers and DevOps engineers, and the good ones came at a price. One realisation led to another, and it was clear, that funding could help us hire, build and scale.4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?I do not know where to start. To the extent, that we’re not sure anymore, if this would have been possible had 100X not existed. We wrote a detailed account of our 100X experience,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/account-kloudmates-journey-from-zero-100x-pranab-buragohain/">in this article</a>.5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?There were a ton of challenges, whether it was the idea itself, validating it first, or building and then reaching out to users (the classic chicken and egg story). A large part of our confusion got taken care of when we started working with customers in understanding their pain points with using the cloud, and trying to figure what we could do, to help them overcome them with ease.6. What stage is your startup at present?KloudMate&nbsp;is currently commercially available for users. Users can signup and go through a self-discovery and implementation process, while our Sales teams are engaging with enterprises for tailored plans.7. As founders, what are your goals for the next&nbsp;1-2 years?Our goal is to achieve internal North Star metrics in terms of user growth and revenues, before initiating discussions around the next round of funding, to scale it further.8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?We’re fortunate to be living in times where you can build amazing products and sell to global audiences, without having to traverse boundaries. This is the best time to build, and the ever-evolving technology landscape is what keeps us afoot, always learning, and in trying to constantly deliver the best, to our users.9. Your message for Startup founders building in the Enterprise Tech sector?With the advent of SaaS, Enterprises have never been more welcoming of newer technologies and tools that can help them improve process flows or ROIs.&nbsp;About Amitava Saha:Amitava Saha has completed his B.Sc in Biotechnology from PES University. He has over 12 years of experience working with startups and is a full-stack developer and AWS-certified solution architect. As the CTO of KloudMate, he oversees the strategic direction and execution of the company's vision.

Amitava Saha, Co-Founder and CTO, KloudMate shares about his startup journey.

With the advent of SaaS, Enterprises have never been more welcoming of newer technologies and tools that can help them improve process flows or ROIs.

- Aditya Mehta, Co-Founder, Epicure Robotics.&nbsp;Aditya Mehta, Co-Founder of Epicure Robotics shares his startup journey from idea to execution to overcome challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team.&nbsp;1. How did the idea of Epicure Robotics come up?Gokulraj and I, both recent graduates, shared a passion for revolutionizing the food industry using technology. Gokulraj had this brilliant idea of incorporating robotics into kitchens, aiming for consistent and hygienic food preparation. Interestingly, I was already contemplating the use of automation, specifically in delivering food to customers. After some brainstorming and research, we decided to combine our ideas and embark on the journey of creating automated kitchens.2. What made you start working on Epicure Robotics and executing this idea?Our aspiration was to create robots for the general public, rather than just industries. Despite high demand in the past 50 years due to a 60% attrition rate in the kitchen industry, minimal innovation occurred beyond electric fryers. In contrast to expensive robotic arms used in fancy kitchens globally, we opted for classic automation, offering a cost-effective solution to address industry challenges.3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?Recognizing the need for Venture Capital and seed funding dawned upon us as we progressed through the early stages of Epicure Robotics. As we delved into developing cutting-edge technologies for automated kitchens and food vending machines, we understood the significance of securing financial support to scale our operations. The decision to seek Venture Capital and seed funding was driven by our ambition to accelerate product development, conduct successful pilots, and establish a robust foundation for the growth of our innovative food tech startup.4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?Securing funding from 100x.vc in April 2023 marked a pivotal moment for Epicure Robotics. In the nascent stages of our journey, 100x.vc provided more than just financial support; they brought invaluable mentorship, strategic guidance, and a vast network of industry connections. Their hands-on approach significantly accelerated our growth trajectory, aiding in refining our business strategy, navigating challenges, and establishing a solid foundation for success. The partnership with 100x.vc has been instrumental in shaping our vision, fostering innovation, and propelling Epicure Robotics towards becoming a trailblazer in the food tech industry.5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Before securing funding, we navigated financial constraints by freelancing, leveraging our skills to manage capital for Epicure Robotics—a hardware startup inherently demanding substantial investment. Navigating Epicure Robotics' journey presented multifaceted challenges. Recruiting key hires, especially engineers, demanded rigorous efforts to attract top talent. Operations and logistics hurdles surfaced during manufacturing, where procuring components proved challenging. Striking a balance between safety, aesthetics, and reliability in consumer-facing products necessitated meticulous design refinements. Business strategy posed a pivotal challenge: determining whether to begin with a B2B or B2C approach, a decision requiring a thorough evaluation of market dynamics and consumer engagement. Overcoming these challenges involved collaborative problem-solving, strategic partnerships, and an unwavering commitment to our vision.6. What stage is Epicure Robotics at present?Currently in our early stages, as a pre-revenue startup, our primary focus is on piloting our fresh smoothie vending machine. Following that, we aim to launch our first food kiosk equipped with an automated kitchen, bringing personalized and healthy food experiences to our customers.7. As a founder, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?As a founder, my primary goals for the next 1-2 years revolve around executing our ambitious roadmap for Epicure Robotics. Our focus is on refining our products, understanding customer patterns, expanding our market presence, and solidifying strategic partnerships. Additionally, we aspire to continue innovating, ensuring that Epicure Robotics remains at the forefront of revolutionizing the food industry with cutting-edge technology.8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Our motivation stems from a passion for robotics and food. We wanted to address the common challenges faced by consumers – inconsistent taste, longer wait time, lack of personalisation, and hygiene concerns. By leveraging robotics and automation, we aim to elevate the standards of food preparation and create a positive impact on the way food is consumed.9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?To fellow startup founders venturing into the same sector, embrace the challenges as opportunities to innovate. Prioritize resilience, surround yourself with a diverse and talented team, and don't shy away from seeking mentorship and networking. Understand your market deeply, iterate relentlessly based on user feedback, and maintain a relentless focus on quality, safety, and customer experience. Learn from setbacks, stay adaptable, and leverage each experience to refine your vision. Most importantly, believe in the transformative power of your idea and let passion drive you through the ups and downs. Your journey will be tough, especially in hardware, but the impact you can create is boundless. Best of luck!&nbsp;About Aditya Mehta:Aditya Mehta has completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from PES University, Bangalore. He has 2 years of experience in food business and robotics.&nbsp;He has worked in a robotic arm manufacturing company. As the CEO of Epicure Robotics, he oversees the strategic direction and execution of the company's vision, focusing on developing state-of-the-art robotic kitchens&nbsp;and&nbsp;kiosks.

Aditya Mehta, Co-Founder, Epicure Robotics shares about his startup journey.

Prioritize resilience, surround yourself with a diverse and talented team, and don't shy away from seeking mentorship and networking. 

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-Rajit Bhattacharya, Co-Founder and CEO, Data Sutram&nbsp;Rajit Bhattacharya, Co-Founder and CEO, Data Sutram shares his startup journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Data Sutram come about?Enterprises need answers from their customers at every point of their journey in the customer lifecycle. When we were working for one of the leading financial institutions in the country, I remember one interaction that I had with the CEO of the company. He asked me, “Rajit, can you tell me if this borrower is going to default tomorrow?” This was during the peak COVID pandemic and the company did not have enough financial data of the customer to arrive at a conclusion.&nbsp;So, at that time, we put our heads together and looked at how many people were walking into the store every day as the borrower was a Kirana store. We observed whether the area is open or closed i.e. whether the store is accessible, and using smartphones, payment data, etc. We were able to put a picture together that depicted this Kirana store doing business in that area and we gave an answer on whether this borrower will default tomorrow or not.&nbsp;This opened up our minds and this made us realize that more often than not the information that is needed to make a decision lies outside the database of an organization. This information is also often unstructured and not accessible to people inside the organization and hence this was presented as a market opportunity that we need to build a platform that enables enterprises to tap into these sources to get answers.Q2. What prompted you to start working on Data Sutram and execute this idea?I entered the journey of being a data scientist by listening to Harvard’s Business Review that said. “Data science is the sexiest job of the 21st century!” But soon I realized that the ground reality is very different because as data scientists, we do not have enough information to be able to create solutions. To enable myself, millions of people who aspired to go into this field, and for enterprises to take decisions, we realized that this is something to start with and hence our journey started. We wanted to build something, we wanted to solve a problem and this was a problem that we faced as data scientists so we wanted to solve it for everyone.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?In any product company, where we need to build a product i.e. in our case, we needed to build a platform that enabled the collection of data from raw sources and create intelligence. Till this platform was created, we couldn’t have approached clients to pay us money. This was a typical chicken and egg problem. Did the chicken come first or did the egg come first? As a result, for any product company, it’s very important to have the financial backing to continue on a journey where you build till a point the customer revenue comes in. Hence we realized the need for Venture Capital. We did not have enough money for ourselves to put in so we went for it.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X wrote us a check in five minutes when all we had was a PowerPoint Presentation. Now, today when I look back, whatever we have built til now is because someone believed us for the presentation in five minutes. Now that’s the real value of an investor. The belief and trust that 100X has put in us is today the reason why Data Sutram has come up.Q5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, what has the pivot been?Most companies pivot when they are going from an idea to an MVP because ideas are not bulletproof. To reach a minimum viable product, you need the market to test your idea, give you feedback, and enable it. At Data Sutram, we entered with a data platform but the journey has been understanding and working in multiple sectors. We realized that financial services needed data to take decisions on NTC and NTB customers. That’s a market fit that we got. So, the question is “Did we pivot or did we find our niche?”Q6. What stage is Data Sutram at present?Currently, Data Sutram is at a Series A stage in its early growth journey.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?As a founder, the aspiration is to build for the world, from India. So, the next couple of years are about scaling the business in India but more importantly, exploring the international go-to-market, where we can replicate our Indian success stories in countries beyond India.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?For me, motivation is about people. I have always believed that I want to build a mafia, a set of people that goes and does crazy things. As long as I enter the office every day and I have the mafia around me, it keeps me motivated.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?For any entrepreneur, the journey from zero to one is the most crucial. In that journey, the most important aspect is finding a problem statement. More often than not, as founders, we focus on solutions, products, and stories but what it all starts with is the problem. I think my message and my biggest learning in this journey has been that in your initial days when you are building from zero to one focus on the problem statement and try to validate it as much because once the problem is decoded, you will find the solution too.&nbsp;About Rajit Bhattacharya:Rajit first got curious about the world of data at a very young age. By the time he turned 19, he was already involved in building various data-driven solutions for MNCs &amp; enterprises.He believes that the actual impact of AI &amp; machine learning to empower businesses and people is something that the industry is not ready to believe.&nbsp;Naturally good at organization and leadership, with a desire to create a change through AI, Rajit belongs to the larger group of millennials ready to fix the world.

Rajit Bhattacharya, Co-Founder and CEO, Data Sutram shares about his startup journey.

The curiosity surrounding new Al developments and the utilization of this technology to address global-level issues and enhance efficiency keeps us going

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-Nikhil Maroli, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics&nbsp;&nbsp;Nikhil Maroli, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics shares his startup journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of RoadMetrics come about?The idea of RoadMetrics came up when Dipen and Mishal, two childhood friends, found that Google Maps suggested an alternative route that promised to save time but actually turned out to take twice the time due to bad road conditions. That's when they explored the idea of mapping road conditions using computer vision based artificial intelligence methods, while in college as a senior year project.Q2. What prompted you to start working on RoadMetrics and execute this idea?The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) approached Dipen and Mishal to help them build a map of road condition data for their road maintenance efforts. That's when they realised the need to build a product.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?Soon after starting our company in October 2019, we needed seed capital to build and rapidly experiment test ideas. This was in December, late 2019, when 100X received our application and invited us to learn more about our team and idea.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X has been valuable in helping us with mentoring, support and access to connections to raise follow-on investment to grow and expand our business.Q5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, what has the pivot been?Yes, we tested multiple ideas including a road condition mapping app (B2C) and mapping using LiDAR for automotive (B2B) applications. We finally decided to work on building an AI system for road condition assessment and monitoring for the international market.Q6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Some challenges included raising capital investment for a new technology, customer reluctance to change existing habits and methods. We displayed our value-for-money for road maintenance teams to switch from machine based road assessment methods to using our AI system for road condition assessments that leverages smartphone video data.Q7. What stage is RoadMetrics at present?We are at a scale up stage with 11 early adopter customers in the UK (our home market) and others in the US, Middle East and Australia.Q8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our goals in the next 1-2 years is to sign up 100 customers and rapidly expand our presence globally for highways asset management.Q9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?The fascination of how technology, especially AI, can change lives and help organisations improve efficiency and costs.Q10. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Many areas in traditional industries such as highways infrastructure, real estate, healthcare, etc. are seeing massive shifts in efficiency improvements and savings with the usage of AI. AI is seeing increased adoption and disrupting many industries. Therefore, startup founders can expect to see a lot of opportunities opening up in this field.

Nikhil Maroli, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics shares about his startup journey.

The fascination of how technology, especially AI, can change lives and help organisations improve efficiency and costs keeps me going

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-Charu Chaturvedi, Co-Founder, agrigator&nbsp;Charu Chaturvedi, Co-Founder, agrigator shares her start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.Q1. How did the idea of agrigator come up?An opportunity to build something in agri supply chain.Udit was working for Rivigo. And during his journey in helping them build a contractual logistic business, he realized that there was a major gap wrt logistics in the agri supply chain.The entire supply chain was extremely unorganized and worked in an on-spot logistics market. He saw an opportunity to build something that would change the way the supply chain runs. I brought in my experience of creating ERP software for FMCG and understood how organized logistics worked. Together we started working on finding ways to bridge the gap and build a product which solves day to day problems of our stakeholders.Q2. What made you start working on agrigator and executing this idea?The agri sector has always been an interest area for me. Coming from a farmers family and married into another, helped me a lot understanding the pulse and problems of the market. Udit’s proposal of first solving the on-spot logistics made a lot of sense to me because procurement is something which anyways will happen eventually but for the customer base we were targeting, finding a truck on time was the bigger pain point. They are into the business of doing trade and not being stuck in the endless hassle of arranging logistics.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?We started working on the idea after getting incubated at CIIE, IIM A in April 2019. Later we also got incubated under the government’s FIED program and received a grant of 10L Rs. September 2019 was when we officially decided to start the company and focus our energies on our first fund raise. And it happened so quickly. 100X trusted us with our first fund raise in Dec 2019.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?Their exceptional style of mentorship and dedication is commendable. This is what exactly any startup needs. No founder is born with the talent of running a company or raising funds. An entrepreneur might initially just have the idea as the prized possession but gradually the ecosystem helps develop the other necessary skills. This is exactly where 100X plays a crucial role. Giving the right advice, support and exposure.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Finding the right team has been the biggest challenge. Agri logistic industry is a very complex industry and isn’t easy for anyone to just start working and giving results. Sales, ops, tech, finance, for each team we had to work really hard finding the right people. Plus, the delay in fund raising due to COVID, did complicate our hiring process as well. But then we survived the tough months, kept learning, fired no one and created the business we are today.Q6. What stage is agrigator at present?We are operational in 4 states now moving more than 300Cr of freight annually. We took a decent amount of time in one state before stepping out to the rest of the three. The ideology was simple. We wanted to understand the minor nuances of the sector so we could build the right solution.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?From day 1 of company our focus has been on building a sustainable business. We have made revenue from the very first trip. We hope to move towards profitability by end of FY 24.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Our customers keep us motivated. This sector has been out of radar since a long time and there are very limited solutions available focused on solving the day to day problems. We wish to enable the traders and small-scale miller along with the Carrier providers by solving the problems one by one and eventually give them the experience of seamless transaction opportunities to earn more and save more.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in this sector?This is a difficult industry, a tough nut to crack. Stay focused and keep building solutions and don’t expect an overnight success. Pick one problem of the customer at a time and think of simple solutions via tech. Try and maintain the status quo of the market. Avoid burn from free services to get initial traction. Retention of customers in longer run is important.The customers have been too comfortable with the traditional way of business for too long and would go back to business as usual as soon as they realise they aren't getting much value from your solution. This industry runs on trust and experience. Build the trust one day at a time and you'll have a sustainable business revolutionising the supply chain.&nbsp;About Charu Chaturvedi:Charu, an IIM A alumni, has been in the IT industry for about 10 years before she joined agrigator. She has worked on multiple projects throughout her journey and developed automations for multiple giant companies. Her experience from developing the supply chain ERP solutions has helped her build product addressing issues at granular levels. She is one of the very few female founders building solutions in the agriculture supply chain.

Charu Chaturvedi, Co-Founder, agrigator shares about her startup journey.

Build the trust one day at a time and you'll have a sustainable business revolutionising the supply chain

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-Aisik Paul, Co-Founder and CTO, Data Sutram&nbsp;Aisik Paul, Co-Founder and CTO, Data Sutram shares his startup journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Data Sutram come about?When I was in the third year of college, Rajit, Ankit and I started dabbling into the world of Data &amp; AI. We had the good fortune of working for some of the toughest business challenges businesses were reeling with, across the retail and FMCG sphere.While we were working with the data science teams of these companies exploring the potential of external data in the ecosystem, two ideas became very apparent. One, most of the problems that these companies were trying to solve needed access to good quality data that lies outside of their organization, second, businesses were looking for answers and insights from their data science functions not models &amp; data.We understood that there was a gap in the market for someone to fill.Q2. What prompted you to start working on Data Sutram and execute this idea?We started working on Data Sutram out of our own necessity, as data scientists we wanted to solve our pain of having to spend a huge chunk of our time sourcing, cleaning, and structuring data before solving any business problem. Slowly realizing that more people could benefit through access to our technology.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?A few months into business we quickly realized the scale of the problem was too big for just us to cover, we needed external help - investors, advisors, mentors, capital to be able to successfully execute on our dream. Venture Capital became our only hope.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?When you try to make it big or do something exceptional in this world, people often tell you that the journey will be rather lonely. By sheer luck or god’s grace, you find mentors who believe in you and join your journey.&nbsp;Since 100X, we have found mentors who have molded us into the entrepreneurs that we are today.Q5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, what has the pivot been?Initially, when we started Data Sutram, we positioned it as a Location Intelligence company that uses alternative data sources to create actionable insights for retail. In our journey, we have realized that data holds a lot more potential and have expanded our use cases into the BFSI industry to play a small part in this push towards digitization and financial inclusion.Q6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?As an entrepreneur, I’ve realized that we face new challenges every day. From challenges like finding the right talent who believe in our vision to challenges like making the world understand the true potential of data-driven decisions, we have seen it all.Everyone's journey is unique, the challenges they overcome define their character. I think it’s important to take it one step at a time, it’s natural to lose your way sometimes but never lose faith. In the end, it’s a rollercoaster ride, you need to enjoy the ups and the downs!Q7. What stage is Data Sutram at present?We have raised a couple of million dollars in funding, across three rounds. We have three products live in the market - DS Find, DS Authenticate &amp; DS Grow; that are being used across 40+ BFSI, Retail &amp; CPG Enterprises on a daily basis. We process over 5 million API calls across our products every month.Q8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?As founders, our primary goal is always to strive to serve our customers better. We are relentlessly working on creating new Data products that solve fundamental problems that plague Indian Enterprises on a daily basis. We want to see them scale and touch as many lives as possible.Q9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?As college students, Ankit, Rajit, and I took a chance four years ago by skipping college placements and decided to give Data Sutram a chance. We had very little to lose, that decision was probably motivated by boyishness. But today I am motivated by a greater purpose and a sense of responsibility towards the 60+ people I work with every day and the scores more that have supported us and have put their faith in us.Q10. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Stay focused, adapt as needed, seek guidance, and stay passionate. In the data and AI startup world, resilience and unwavering belief in your vision are your greatest assets.

Aisik Paul, Co-Founder and CTO, Data Sutram shares about his startup journey.

Stay focused, adapt as needed, seek guidance, and stay passionate. In the data and AI startup world, resilience and unwavering belief in your vision are your greatest assets

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-Dipen Babariya, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics&nbsp;Dipen Babariya, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics shares his startup journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of RoadMetrics come about?The idea of leveraging technology in solving one of the most pressing and annoying issues in the country, struck us four years ago when Me and&nbsp;my friend were navigating to our friend’s place using Google Maps. Although Google suggested an alternate time-saving shortcut route, it took us twice the time owing to bad road conditions and inaccurate road information.Q2. What prompted you to start working on RoadMetrics and execute this idea?We have experience in the mapping/automotive space and tech. We found that recent developments in AI are enabling automation in the road assessments and organisations are quickly transitioning to AI. This is the right moment for us to capitalise on and through our pilots and partnerships, the feedback has been tremendous.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?After our first breakthrough with SMC (Surat Municipal Corporation), we moved to Bangalore to start our company in October 2019. To train our machine learning&nbsp;models, we need an ample amount of data and need a seed capital to start the data collection process to test different AI models.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100XVC has assisted us across various fields, ranging from facilitating follow-up investments to providing valuable market feedback. They have connected us with pertinent industry leaders and offered guidance throughout every aspect of our entrepreneurial journey.Q5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, what has the pivot been?We explored various ideas, including the development of a crowdsourced road condition mapping app (B2C) and the utilization of LiDAR for high-definition mapping in automotive (B2B) applications. Ultimately, we concluded that focusing on creating an AI system for assessing and monitoring road conditions in international regions or councils (B2G) as well as providing solutions for infrastructure companies in the international market (B2B) was the most promising direction.Q6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?We encountered several challenges, including securing capital investment for a new technology, addressing customer resistance to altering established habits and methods, and locating the appropriate talent and expertise for the new technology. Our breakthrough came when we identified a genuine use case for our system within the B2G model. Here, organizations could enhance work efficiency and achieve up to a 30% reduction in annual budgets by leveraging a fully automated AI system, all from the ease of recording smartphone video data.Q7. What stage is RoadMetrics at present?We're at the scale up stage with breakeven to our burn with 11 counties using RoadMetrics in the UK and expanding our reach internationally with projects in US and Australia and paid pilots in Qatar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Dubai.Q8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?My goal is to scale RoadMetrics internationally with global offices in developed countries&nbsp;within the next 3 years. And launch additional Mapping solutions like GIS based asset management solutions similar to&nbsp;ArcGIS.&nbsp;Q9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?The curiosity surrounding new AI developments and the utilization of this technology to address global-level issues and enhance efficiency.Q10. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?I believe that AI/Machine Learning technologies have demonstrated enhanced efficiency in various industries, such as healthcare and automotive. However, I consider persistence to be a key factor in this scenario. It will be essential for people to gradually gain trust in these AI systems and begin integrating them into their day-to-day operations as they become more comfortable with the technology.

Dipen Babariya, Co-Founder, RoadMetrics shares about his startup journey.

The curiosity surrounding new AI developments and the utilization of this technology to address global-level issues and enhance efficiency keeps us going

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-<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranabburagohain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pranab Buragohain</a>, Co-founder, <a href="https://www.kloudmate.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kloudmate</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranabburagohain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pranab Buragohain</a>, Co-founder, <a href="https://www.kloudmate.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kloudm</a>ate shares his startup journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of KloudMate come up?It was during our cloud consulting days, we realised that a more simplified, yet evolved approach to Observability was the need of the hour. The existing isolated processes that customers were practicing, were not efficient for the ever-growing, complicated, distributed cloud architectures. Soon, KloudMate was born, with the idea of correlating data from the three pillars of Observability - Logs, Metrics &amp; Traces, to present powerful intelligence to Developers and Devops teams, help them boost efficiency by debugging in minutes, rather than spending hours, or even days.Q2. What made you start working on and executing this idea?Once the idea struck, we discussed and got some validation from a few of our existing customers from the consulting business. They were very encouraging and thought it was worth pursuing. Soon enough, we found ourselves writing product notes and user journeys, in a bid to build an MVP, which turned out to be a fully functional platform within 6 months.One thing led to another, and by the time we were looking to raise our first round of funding, the product was already at par with some large players who’ve existed for a while (if not better).Q3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?While initially we wanted to bootstrap our way into go-live, it was at the time of hiring Tech resources, we realised that it won’t be a sustainable model. Being a deeptech product like ours, needed top notch developers and devops engineers, and the good ones came at a price. Soon, it was clear that we must look at infusing external capital, not only to aid hiring, but to amplify development, growth and scale.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?I do not know where to start. To the extent, that we’re not sure anymore if this would have been possible had 100X not existed. We wrote a detailed account of our 100X experience in an article.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?&nbsp;There were a ton of challenges, whether it was the idea itself, validating it first, or building and then reaching out to users (the classic chicken and egg story). A large part of our confusion got taken care of, once we started working with customers in understanding their pain points with using the cloud, and trying to figure what we could do, to help them overcome them with ease.It was also a major revelation for us. That in the developer tools and cloud-tech space, there is so much to be done. That every little problem faced by users can literally be built into a meaningful full-scale product, with the potential of going global. That every small use-case can potentially create a new category, and also lead it.Q6. What stage is your startup at present?KloudMate is currently in public beta. Users can signup and go through a self- discovery and implementation process, while our Sales teams are engaging with enterprises to tailor plans specific to their needs. This is a crucial juncture for us, as we’re currently seeing a few tens of developers from across the world signup every hour, and devising a watertight, customer success process is what we’re spending a great amount of time on.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our goal is to achieve certain internal north star metrics in terms of user growth, revenues and NPS scores. These will not only help us further validate our product proposition, but also allow us to make development efforts to reach a state of maturity, that makes it easier to find product-market-fit.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?KloudMate is what keeps me going, and doesn’t let any of us sleep at night. Knowing that it can become synonymous with Observability, a tool that can redefine the very approach, and help change existing, primitive processes employed by developers and devops teams. We’re fortunate to be living in times where you can build amazing products and sell to global audiences, without having to traverse boundaries. This is the best time to build, and the ever-evolving technology landscape is what keeps us afoot, in always learning, and in trying to constantly deliver the best, to our customers. I’m very sure that’s all the motivation I need.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the EnterpriseTech sector?&nbsp;With the advent of Cloud and SaaS (as a business model), Enterprises have never been more welcoming of newer technologies and tools that can help them improve process flows, boost team productivity, or enhance ROIs. As long the ICPs and their corresponding communication strategies are mapped out, getting into enterprises has never been easier. A lot of enterprise-grade concerns, such as security, data integrity or compliance, things that have hitherto been extremely difficult to build and accord with, have now become a lot easier to deal in, what with the emergence of cloud technologies like Serverless.&nbsp;About Pranab:Pranab Buragohain is a Co-founder and Chief of Marketing at <a href="https://www.kloudmate.com/">KloudMate</a>. Prior to starting up, he's worked with some of India’s largest telecom and cloud players for nearly two decades. He swears by the power that the internet vests upon us, and loves new-age conquest marketing, with an ever-evolving technology landscape.In the past, Pranab, with his friends-cum-current co-founders Bidyut Baruah and Amitava Saha, ran a successful AWS cloud &nbsp;consulting business, before finally deciding to transition into being a product company.In his free time, Pranab loves scaling mountains in Himachal, or playing a gig or two with his (now almost defunct) rock band.

Pranab Buragohain, Co-founder, Kloudmate shares about his startup journey.

Every little problem faced by users can literally be built into a meaningful full-scale product, with the potential of going global

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-Bhairavi Nagda, Associate at Rockstud Capital.Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India. Here, Bhairavi Nagda, Associate at Rockstud Capital shares her responses.&nbsp;1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing business?Since the start of my career, I was very sure I wanted to move into a Venture Capital Startup ecosystem. What motivated me was the opportunity to be a part of creating value and innovation for the generations along with the excellent exposure to innovation. The fact of the community supporting entrepreneurs and learning from creative and successful individuals, and also the narrative that each founder or investor holds.2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like.The typical work day starts with checking some hot news of the ecosystem along with clearing out my mailbox. While sipping the green tea, I tend to write down my to-dos for the day. Founders meetings and deep diving are all day jobs. While internal discussion about a deal or any work, the team also sits together during lunch time and discusses how they are trying to make the most of their weekend.On a Leisure day, I try to cook a delicious meal or go out to meet friends. A saturday party night never hurts anyone, along with finding out the hidden gems in Maharashtra.3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?Over the past decade, there has been a considerable surge in the number of young Indian businesses. With the rise of digital technologies and an increasing number of young entrepreneurs, India's startup ecosystem has grown rapidly and is now the 3rd largest in the world. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India’s GDP is expected to double in the next decade. Along with improvement in ease of doing business, increasing digitization and high interest penetration, we expect all this to provide a significant thrust to the startup ecosystem in the country over the next decade. Indian startups have raised record funding of $140 Bn over the last decade (January 2014 to March 2023). In this period, we also saw 108 companies achieving Unicorn status, making us the 3rd largest country behind the USA (644) and China (172). A lot of credit for this has to go to the entrepreneurs who, through their innovation, creativity and execution, have been able to build some of the world’s most successful startups. An equally important role has been played by the Indian government which has promoted entrepreneurship and innovation through initiatives. There are a growing number of angel investors, early-stage venture capital firms and family offices which are focused on providing capital and mentorship to entrepreneurs to help their ventures scale. There is a supportive culture for entrepreneurship in India, with a growing number of people seeing entrepreneurship as a viable career path. This is reflected in the growth of the startup ecosystem in India.4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.I believe in empowering India's next generation of entrepreneurs which recognizes the immense potential of the country's youth and the power to create an ecosystem that nurtures their innovative ideas and transforms them into scalable businesses, I believe in the "YUVA Bharat" theme that emphasises youth empowerment and engagement in building a strong and progressive India. It recognises the potential of the 21st generation and tries to harness their energy, ideas, and talent that is critical for building the nation's future. It focuses on opportunities across digitization, sustainability, financial inclusion, health &amp; safety and consumption.5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor.While still being very early in the industry, there are few key lessons I would like to share.<ol><li>Always be inquisitive. The more questions you ask, the more the understanding gets better.</li><li>You have to be a multitasker for sure.</li><li>Follow the gut feeling. It's always true.</li><li>Don’t hesitate to admit inexperience or lack of knowledge.</li><li>Working in a venture capital means lifelong learning at the speed of light.</li><li>Develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Be empathetic. VC is a product for entrepreneurs.</li></ol>6. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally.As the world is changing so rapidly, I believe fintech, content creation / social media, , direct to consumer - internet first brands, digital healthcare and sustainability are the trending sectors/ themes attracting the attention of every investor.7. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.<ol><li>Corporate governance is important.</li><li>Investors are your well wishers and not your enemy.</li><li>Storytelling is a skill. The sooner you learn, the better.</li><li>Color of money is more important than just MONEY.</li><li>Be agile.</li></ol>8. How do you support your portfolio companies?Connecting portfolio companies with relevant stakeholders, such as new customers, partners, suppliers, mentors, advisers, or hiring, is one of the most valuable ways I support them. Another way is also of value to portfolio companies is to share ideas and feedback based on my experience and skills. Some strategic advice, market intelligence, industry trends, or best practices to portfolio companies helps them make better decisions, avoid errors, or improve their performance.9. Which of your portfolio company you are very excited about and why:As an Investor we work with all the Founders in our portfolio in helping them scale their business and try to address any issues that the Founder is facing in his/her venture. Some of our portfolio companies that have scaled significantly include Everest Fleet, BigHaat, NOTO, Knorish, etc.10. When you started your career what were your ambitionsThe aim was always to learn as much as I could and grow in my career. New days bring new challenges and I’m excited to gain experience in the field and work with a team of professionals who can mentor me and help me achieve my goals.11. What inspires you in life and what keeps you awake at nightOpportunities to work with founders in the journey of building something unique and sustainable.12. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs<ol><li>The Entrepreneurial Mind</li><li>Zero to one</li></ol>

Bhairavi Nagda, Associate at Rockstud Capital, shares about her journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.

Working in a venture capital means lifelong learning at the speed of light

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-Devansh Swarup, Founder and CEO, Paperplane&nbsp;Devansh Swarup, Founder and CEO, Paperplane shares his start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Paperplane come about?While we were pursuing Engineering, we built a Customer Query Bot on WhatsApp for Reliance Mumbai Metro as a side project. We used the same technology to create a WhatsApp Store for Medical Supplies (Covid-19 specific). We observed massive usage and interactions on WhatsApp. This made us realize the potential of WhatsApp. Our consumer insight was, "If people can buy products on WhatsApp, they can buy services too."Q2. What prompted you to start working on Paperplane and execute this idea?To validate our hypothesis, we reached out to 200 doctors in 10 days to understand if there was merit in our thinking. Close to 70% of these doctors were willing to use this product if we ended up building it for them.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?We doubled down on 10 doctors as pilot users to try out our beta. As a team of 4, we were able to build an MVP but needed more engineering resources to create a fully-fledged product that could be scaled. We had the initial team that could work as interns and part-time employees, but we required a little capital to pay them salaries and stipends. That's when we understood that external funding would be necessary to scale quickly.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?As 4 college students who hadn't even graduated, we had no experience in running a company. We had what one could call a "Paper Napkin Idea" and practically no sense of how to scale a product into a business. 100X provided us with the initial capital as well as an understanding of how to run a business. The best part was that the process was tailored to Indian companies. Most literature on building a startup comes from the West, but Indian markets are fundamentally different. It requires building an intuitive understanding of how to navigate through challenges. 100X helped us grasp what is important and what is not. This has been one of the most significant learning experiences to date.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Paperplane is a product for clinics and hospitals, used by doctors, clinical staff, and administration. The primary user being the doctor, their needs do not match in multiple cases. For instance, the needs of a nephrologist will never match those of an ophthalmologist. Hence, one must consider these differences before making product and sales decisions. It parallels FMCG or E-commerce companies where each category requires dealing with its own set of problems and solutions. After a few iterations, we understood that the tech stack needs to be customisable for different therapeutic areas, enabling us to scale without technical debt.Q6. What stage is Paperplane at present?Currently, Paperplane has 5000+ independent clinics and enterprise clients like Apollo 247 and Beato. We've managed over 600,000 patients and countless doctor-patient conversations on WhatsApp. We're starting to observe inbound traction from areas beyond healthcare that share similar business use cases.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our goals for the next 1-2 years include achieving 1 Million ARR by the end of this financial year, launching in the US markets, and introducing our full-stack enterprise offering with built-in Gen AI capabilities.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?The Indian economy is rapidly growing, with India's GDP at 3.5 trillion. Strong factors position us for high growth over the next 20 years. India is transitioning from a third-world country to a full-scale economic powerhouse, much like China but 15 years behind in terms of numbers and scale. This translates to exponential growth in consumption and production. Global companies are setting up bases in India, making it evident that new businesses will thrive here. Keeping all these factors in mind, one can persist until they find the right product and market fit.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?The ability to create opportunities even in times of duress is the most critical aspect of building a startup. Anything can change – the government might introduce new taxes, the underlying technology you're using could be repriced, potentially affecting your margins. Antifragility, the ability to grow during shocks, volatility, and attacks, will prevent your demise. If you're the last person standing in the ring, there's a high probability you've emerged victorious.&nbsp;About Devansh Swarup:Devansh was working as an intern in Product and Marketing roles during Covid-19, while still pursuing an Undergrad in Computer Science and Engineering at that time. He understood that his friends, with similar professional experience, had enough competency to launch and scale a product. When they finalised the idea of "Paperplane," he quit his other roles to pursue entrepreneurship. 100X.VC came in before he even graduated, kickstarting his entrepreneurial journey.At Paperplane, Devansh leads Product, Sales, Customer Experience, and Investor Relations. He is an avid reader, and most of his free time is spent reading anything he can get his hands on.

Devansh Swarup, Founder and CEO, Paperplane shares about his startup journey.

The ability to create opportunities even in times of duress is the most critical aspect of building a startup

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-Anshul Shrivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, Vodex.ai&nbsp;Anshul Shrivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, Vodex.ai shares his start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Vodex come up?Kumar and I thought of Vodex when we were talking about the problems companies have while trying to reach prospects and customers over phone call. We already knew a lot about this because we had run a company working with Chatbots and Voicebots for over 10 years. Many businesses started asking us for a way to have automatic calls that sounded like real people talking. We saw that no one was offering this, so we thought we could fill that need with a new solution that used AI to make the calls feel more personal.Q2. What made you start working on Vodex and executing this idea?What made us start working on Vodex was seeing a problem that businesses had with leveraging automation while trying to reach out to prospects and customers over phone calls. There were issues with both businesses as well as at the consumer end. While going for automation, Businesses were facing issues like expensive bot development fee or frustrating IVR experience, while doing it manually, they had to incur expensive costs for hiring training and retaining human resources. At the same time it was not a good experience at the consumer end as well. IVRs were unable to answer any queries and bots were saying sorry I didn't understand that most of the time. With human resources, consistency of experience was a big challenge, while some reps were really good, some were really bad.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?We realised quite early in our journey that we need to raise VC funding. When we focused on one niche which is Outbound calls for B2C businesses, we realised we will need VC funding to make it bigger. While initially we bootstrapped to build the MVP and initial customer validation, to make it bigger and scalable, we needed VC investment.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X has provided invaluable support in the initial stages, offering mentorship, resources, and access to networks crucial for growth. We were able to not only build the product we wanted to build but also could deploy it to clients from various industry segments. Thanks for the network, the mentorship and the support provided by 100x.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?While starting with building Vodex we faced some technical challenges like how to provide real time response over phone call. Delay in voice bot response was a big challenge for us which we managed to solve. Apart from that, finding our Ideal customer was a big challenge for us. We experimented with various industry segments and verticals. The problem with selling to the wrong ICP is that you can do 1 - 2 sales easily but after that it becomes very difficult to sell to other similar people. Finding the right messaging and right Marking channel was also a challenge which we managed to overcome eventually.Q6. What stage is Vodex at present?We launched the first version of Vodex by mid of last year. That was kind of an MVP version where we just integrated off the shelf speech recognition, NLP Engine and TTS. We built a product which had minimal features just enough so that customers can understand the value of our product. From this MVP itself, we generated more than 20L in revenues. We have now moved to the Post MVP stage and are soon launching version 2.0 of our product. This post-MVP stage indicates that Vodex has moved beyond the initial experimental phase and has a working product that has been validated by customers. The focus is now on expanding the product's capabilities, optimizing its performance, and increasing its market presence.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Currently we have around 30 paying customers. Our main focus for the next 1 - 2 years is to build upon those existing customers, understand how we solved their problems using Vodex and find the niche or vertical where we can provide the most value to our customers. Our focus will be to find the product market fit and to create a GTM engine so that we can get new paying customers on a regular basis with minimal efforts. Our focus will also be on customer success and retaining our existing customers so that churn can be reduced and our customers can get maximum value out of the product. Our focus will also be on improving our offerings by implementing state of the art technology solutions and staying ahead of the competition.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?As a founder, you need to be really passionate about what you are building. Fortunately, my co-founder and I both are passionate about technology. We have been working in the AI Space since early 2014 - 2015 and now after this Generative AI, we are super excited to create meaningful solutions for our customers using powers of LLMs and Generative AI. We are super excited and motivated by the fact that we are living in this age where AI is no longer a science fiction but is actually being used by various businesses across the globe and we have potential to build AI powered products from India which can be used by customers across the world.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Here is my message to other startup founders building in the same sector. Start with talking to your potential customers and identify the problem that you are going to solve. Do not start with technology and just think about what cool thing I can build with this technology. Instead talk to customers, understand their pain points and challenges, then think about what you want to build and why. Do not build a full fledged product at the start, instead start with building a MVP first. Show them to your potential customers and ask for their feedback. Based on their inputs, improve your product. Charge from day 1, do not just offer your product for free. You get real feedback and insights from your customers only when you charge them. People don’t generally give much thought to free products. Those who are really your customers, those who want you to solve their problems will pay you even if your charges are high and they will work with you closely, will provide you feedback to help you build the product. Keep learning, start small, execute fast.&nbsp;About Anshul Shrivastava:With 12+ years in the IT industry, Anshul has fostered a deep passion for technology, with a particular focus on AI and cutting-edge advancements. Currently, he serves as the Founder and CEO of Vodex.ai, a platform dedicated to delivering innovative AI solutions globally. His vision has always been to harness technology's transformative power, and he believes in the potential of AI to make positive strides in all industries. Through strategic leadership, he aims to drive Vodex.ai's growth, continuously enhancing their services to meet and surpass clients' expectations. Anshul sees technology not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for inclusive growth and progress. He is always eager to connect with other tech enthusiasts and discuss groundbreaking ideas, He is not just leading a company, but striving to shape the future of AI.&nbsp;

Anshul Shrivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, Vodex.ai shares about his startup journey.

We are living in this age where AI is no longer a science fiction but is actually being used by various businesses across the globe and we have potential to build AI powered products from India which can be used by customers across the world

-Mrunali Parikh, Investment Analyst at Tanas Capital.Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India. Here, Mrunali Parikh, Investment Analyst at Tanas Capital shares her responses.&nbsp;&nbsp;1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing business?The thrill of finding and promoting innovative ideas that have the potential to transform industries and generate enormous value is what keeps me in the venture investing business. I'm passionate about promoting entrepreneurship, staying on the cutting edge of technology developments, and backing visionary founders and their start-ups shape the future.2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like.Workday: A typical workday involves talking to different founders and understanding their business model, sitting with the portfolio companies for MIS tracking and strategy discussions, and reading &amp; researching the industry trends.Leisure Day: On a leisure day, I like to spend time with my friends and family, explore new food places, or will do Netflix and chill.3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?India has enormous market potential because of its population demographics and increasing digital adoption. India is poised to become a worldwide hotspot for tech-driven solutions across various sectors. The Indian tech talent has the potential to build globally scaleable solutions since there is right pool of capital available due to the increase in the early-stage venture funding.4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.Finding businesses with strong visionary founders, revolutionary technology or approach, a scaleable business model, and a clear path to market leadership is the core of my investing thesis. However, Sustainable Unit Economics is an equally important criterion for investing.5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor.1. You are not investing in the business, rather you are investing in the founder its vision and passion.2. Change is the only constant and hence pivoting the business and model is important to sustain the market3. Each and every company needs to have the strongest marketing plan and strategy in place. Even the strongest technology/product will fail if the marketing plan is not right. Marketing strategy is the only long-term moat in the business.4. Network and building relationships with founders, investors, and bankers in the ecosystem is very very important.6. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally.1. Generative Tech and Artificial Intelligence (Globally)2. Advertising and Media Tech (Globally)3. Food Staples and ready-to-cook food in consumer products (India)4. Pre School and Day Care in the early child education Industry (India)5. Fin-Tech (Payments and Investments)7. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.1. Build a business that has to stay relevant 10-20 years down the line as well.2. The first 12 people who join your startup, should be the ones aligned with the vision of the company3. First round of investment should come from friends and family only4. Competition shows that you are doing something right5. Start with a big share of a small market and going forward include the offerings to expand the market.8. How do you support your portfolio companies?We are an equity partner that brings more than money to the relationship. With deep in-house expertise, we provide the support to accelerate growth creation in our portfolio companies through strategic clarity, prioritization, capital allocation, and capability building. We work closely with our companies to identify any low hanging opportunities for improving efficiencies, increasing productivity and driving superior cash flows. We leverage our experience to guide companies on the right cadence for improvements in systems, processes and governance as they rapidly scale up.9. Which of your portfolio company you are very excited about and why:Tanas has invested in one of the new-age Marketing tech companies – Wondrlab. It is a platform-first startup with 360-degree marketing operations covered. It is the most exciting investment because brand positioning is the most important aspect for any brand nowadays, as consumers have become very conscious. This shows an increasing market opportunity and with the right team, it has all the reasons to become successful.10. When you started your career what were your ambitionsI started my career in 2021, by working in corporate finance advisory firm – Bakertilly DHC. Where I use to closely work with the finance team of the corporate houses. After this, I joined GVFL – an early- stage venture fund backed by Government of Gujarat, and worked on a couple of early-stage deals. After working there for around 2 years, I joined Tanas Capital – A mid-market private investment firm.

Mrunali Parikh, Investment Analyst at Tanas Capital , shares about her journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.

India has enormous market potential because of its population demographics and increasing digital adoption

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-Ketaki Ogale, Co-Founder, BHyve&nbsp;Ketaki Ogale, Co-Founder, BHyve shares her start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of BHyve come up?BHyve is a fruit of the lived experience of the founders. While working in large, global organizations, we realised that the biggest untapped opportunity for organizations is the sitting wealth of knowledge - some scattered, some undocumented. We realised that by making it visible, and centralised, the organization can unlock new productivity and efficiency, and have employees leverage the most of collective capabilities of the group. That's when, inspired from the ways Bees use hive intelligence, we ideated BHyve.Q2. What made you start working on BHyve and executing this idea?We did lots of reading, and spoke to people who said this was a real problem, that they were solving to some extent at their end. We also met organizations who wanted to solve this problem, but didn't know how to. That gave us the encouragement to start sketching out a solution. The pandemic, however, became our moment of truth, when we realized that the gravity of our problem became 10x, and we had access to the right technology to solve this at scale.&nbsp;Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?The first company that showed interest in us was Aditya Birla Hindalco. Their needs matched our value proposition, and they were keen to buy this product. For us, that green signaled a potential business opportunity. So we realised that the next thing we needed of this puzzle was capital - the funds to hire the right talent who can build this app. That's when we decided to go for funding.&nbsp;Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?- Capital access - our first check came from 100X.VC- Access to angel investors - we raised $200K from the angels who discovered us on the 100X.VC platform- Early customers - 2 out of our first 4 customers came through to us from the connects of 100X.VCQ5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?- BHyve is a category-creation product for the majority of the Indian market. This means we have to educate our customers about the value of efficient knowledge management. We do this through our marketing efforts, and through the relationships our sales team builds with our target buyer groups.&nbsp;- Today's market is filled with productivity tools and enterprise is filled with technology. So breaking that clutter, and showing real value is a huge challenge. I'll say we are a work in progress on that front.&nbsp;Q6. What stage is BHyve at present?- BHyve currently has 12 customers, as a horizontal SaaS Enterprise AI product. We have recurring revenue and an NDR of 140%. We're starting to see inbound traction from established large organizations and building a team that can support this growth. The next big thing for us is exploring Generative AI as a way to make knowledge the most valuable asset of all organizations.&nbsp;Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?- Getting to $150K ARR with focus on medium and large enterprises- Getting to 200% NDR- Breakeven- Launching a set of Generative AI capabilities to solve for higher order KM problems&nbsp;- Raising the next round of funding- Building a rest of the world pipeline for the "selling from India" modelQ8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?- Our users. I spend a lot of time looking through their requests, their usage patterns, testimonials - and it's incredibly reassuring that they see value in our work, and that it solves challenges they encounter at work. This is fundamental- Our team. We're very fortunate to get to work with very talented, passionate, and incredibly hardworking people - who genuinely care and want to see BHyve thrive. Their ideas keep me excited and motivatedQ9. Your message for Startup founders building in this sector?- Make sure you feel passionately about a problem (especially at early stage). A lot of investor, client and employee conviction comes from this passion- Keep learning. You'll never know enough about your customers and users. Do your value proposition and problem articulation every so often, so you know you're going deep into the domain- Enterprise SaaS is tricky because while there are playbooks, they are not specific to your problem, industry or scale. So be wise in how you replicate or ideate- Its a marathon, so don't burnout. Work on physical, mental, emotional wellbeing, so you can focus and steer your ship well.&nbsp;About Ketaki Ogale:Ketaki Ogale is a co-founder at BHyve. She has nearly a decade of product&nbsp;marketing experience, having words for and with Fortune 500 companies globally. At BHyve, she leads Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success; and likes spending most of her time listening to user stories and challenges. Outside of work, Ketaki enjoys food and adventure sports.

Ketaki Ogale, Co-Founder, BHyve shares about her startup journey.

Do your value proposition and problem articulation every so often, so you know you're going deep into the domain

-Akash Lodha, Associate at Unitus Ventures.Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India. Here, Akash Lodha, Associate at Unitus Ventures shares his responses.&nbsp;&nbsp;1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing business?You get to see non-linear growth in extraordinary innovations, which can solve significant human challenges at scale. Also, you learn great life lessons over a longer period due to extreme emotions are in play which bring paramount outcomes.2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like.Workdays are mostly split between building deal pipeline, portfolio management, deepening industry connects and a bit of fund-related work.Leisure day gets spent by either doing nothing or taking a bike-trip to weekend gateway spots.3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?&nbsp;India is at the cusp of becoming a solid powerhouse for technological (especially internet) innovations (we have seen this in Fintech – UPI, Lending and now fintech-infra). We have prudent tech talent, are building scalable business models and now founders have also started to think big to target the global markets aggressively. We just have to take this mindset to BHARAT people, who are working or building locally.4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.Unitus Ventures is an early-stage VC funding. We back startups primarily between Seed to Series A stages. The sector focus is agnostic, but over past decade we have focused more on Fintech, Edtech, Jobtech, SaaS &amp; B2B Distribution.5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor.1. It’s founders who are all-in in their businesses, we are just supporting them to achieve their business ambitions (financially and strategically). Be empathetic with them (at all times).2. Founder-fit is the most critical aspect while taking an investment decision (can the founders pull-this off over next 10 years?). Market-sizing is important, but India is a growing country, all sectors will see significant penetration opportunity over next 10-15 years. For me, understanding regulatory compliances is more critical than performing analysis on market-sizing, for Indian context (Eg. – recent changes in Prepaid card regulations changed business models of few fintech players overnight).3. Building long-term relationships with founders, fellow VCs, lawyer, bankers is very important.4. Borrowed conviction doesn’t work well – you have to build independent conviction on founders, business model and market.&nbsp;5. Keep sector focus relatively helps.6. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally.1. Cross-border business models in fintech, distribution and SaaS.2. Emergence of D2C brands in different consumer verticals.3. Deep-tech (building from BHARAT)4. Climate-tech (adoption of EVs at scale in India)5. VC funds trend – more domestic capital from HNIs and Family Offices coming in VC funds.7. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.1. &nbsp; &nbsp;Think at scale. With technology, the realms of mass penetration, in relatively shorter timeframe, are strong.2. Go all-in. One idea, one business, one focus. Going all-around always proves to be a bad idea.3. Balance out emotions. You will experience high adrenaline rushes as well as high turbulent times over your course of business building. Balancing out emotions help in keep focus aligned and taking failures as part of the journey.4. Think long-term. Business building at scale, even with VC capital, takes atleast 10 years. Think business impact at scale over 20-40 years than thinking of valuation over next 2-3 years.5. Be empathetic. You will manage large teams, interact with customers frequently, present to investors regularly. Its important not to lose soft human touch while communicating things.8. How do you support your portfolio companies?We work with our portfolio companies on various aspects which include Business Growth, Major Pivots, Fundraising (Equity + Debt). We keep regular interactions with the founders, also twice a month, we like to be very hands-on with the founders.9. When you started your career what were your ambitions?I started my career in late 2020. I joined Boon Capital, a boutique tech Investment Banking firm, very early-on in its journey and worked there for 2 years. Then I joined KNAV to setup its tech I-banking office in Bangalore. And now I am with Unitus, joined them recently.I always wanted to get into Equity Research roles in boutique firms who track capital markets. But destiny had brought me into tech Investment Banking and then into Venture Investing.&nbsp;10. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs.Books – Zero to One, Elon Musk Biography book, Shoe Dog, The Black SwanBlogs – The Collaborative Fund blogs, Y-Combinator blogs &nbsp;

Akash Lodha, Associate at Unitus Ventures, shares about his journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.

Founder-fit is the most critical aspect while taking an investment decision 

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-Chirag Gupta, Co-Founder, <a href="https://bebeburp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bebe Burp</a>&nbsp;Chirag Gupta, Co-Founder, <a href="https://bebeburp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bebe Burp</a> shares his start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Bebe Burp come up?The idea of Bebe Burp came from my own personal experience, when my sister was blessed with a baby. She was struggling to find an easy and effective way to burp her baby. This is when we realised that many other parents must be facing the same problem. That's when the idea for Bebe Burp was born! It's a simple yet effective solution to an everyday parenting problem.Q2. What made you start working on Bebe Burp and executing this idea?After realising that there was a need for a better way to burp babies, I started working on Bebe Burp. I wanted to make the lives of parents easier. I wanted to create a product that would be easy to use and would solve a real problem. We received positive feedback from friends and family, and that's when I knew that I had to pursue this idea and bring it to market. So, I started working on the design, development, and manufacturing of Bebe Burp. And that's how Bebe Burp was born!Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?The need to raise seed funding came when I realised that I needed more capital to bring Bebe Burp to market. We were at our revenue stage, but we needed more funding to finalize the design, manufacture the product, and launch it. That's when we started reaching out to potential investors and pitching the idea of Bebe Burp. And that's how I raised seed funding!Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X helped me in many ways through my journey. First, they provided me with valuable feedback on my business plan and helped me to refine my pitch. Second, they introduced me to many potential investors and helped me to get in front of the right people. Third, they provided me with other resources that helped me to get started. And finally, they were a great sounding board and helped me to stay focused and motivated.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?I faced some challenges in the early days of Bebe Burp. The biggest challenge was finding the right manufacturer who could make the product to my specifications. I went through several iterations before I found a manufacturer that could meet my needs. I also had to learn a lot about product design, manufacturing, and marketing. But I was determined to make Bebe Burp a success, and I persevered through the challenges.Q6. What stage is Bebe Burp at present?Bebe Burp is currently in the growth stage. We've got a solid product and a growing user base. Now, we're focused on expanding our reach and growing our user base even more. We're also working on building out our team and infrastructure to support our growth. It's an exciting time for us, and we're looking forward to what the future holds.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our goals for the next 1-2 years is to continue growing our user base, expanding our product offering and building a strong team. We want to be the go-to platform for people looking to find and share parenting advice. We also want to build a community of parents who support and learn from each other. Ultimately, we want to make a positive impact on the lives of parents and their children.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?What keeps me motivated and keeps me going is the passion we have for our mission and the impact we're making on parents and their children. We've heard from so many parents about how Bebe Burp has helped them feel more confident and connected, and that's what drives us to keep going. It's not always easy, but it's worth it to know that we're making a difference.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?My message for startup founders building in the parenting space is to stay focused on your mission and not be afraid of experiment. Parenting is a complex and ever-changing landscape, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. The best way to create a product that's truly helpful and valuable is to listen to your users and be open to trying new things. Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint, so take your time and enjoy the journey.&nbsp;About Chirag Gupta:Chirag Gupta is an expert in Operations and Logistics, with a proven track record of success in managing the flow of products and services from suppliers to customers. His expertise includes supply chain management, resource allocation, and inventory control. He is a highly organized and detail-oriented individual who is committed to ensuring that products are delivered on time and meet the needs of customers.

Chirag Gupta, Co-Founder, Bebé Burp shares about his startup journey.

The best way to create a product that's truly helpful and valuable is to listen to your users and be open to trying new things

-Kumar Saurav, Co-Founder and CTO, Vodex.ai&nbsp;Kumar Saurav, Co-Founder and CTO, Vodex.ai shares his start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Vodex come up?Well, the idea for Vodex came up when Anshul and I were discussing the challenges businesses face in outbound voice sales and marketing. We together already had an experience of running a company working in Chatbots and Voicebot for more than a decade. The idea started when lot of business started coming to us asking for a solution for outbound calls where Bots can mimic human conversation in a human like voice. We realized there was a gap in the market for a solution that could automate these calls and use AI to create more personalized interactions.Q2. What made you start working on Vodex and executing this idea?The idea itself was quite exciting, but what really made us take the plunge was the potential impact. We saw that businesses were missing out on growth opportunities due to inefficient and ineffective outbound calling. We believed that our solution could make a real difference. With our previous experience and access to Business adopting to AI, we did initial surveys and tried to understand the pain points.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?The realization to seek seed funding came about six months into the journey of developing Vodex. Anshul and I had been bootstrapping the project up until that point, using our savings to cover the initial expenses. However, as we delved deeper into the AI development, we noticed that our resources were starting to thin. Simultaneously, we were observing a growing interest in our solution, and we saw the potential to speed up our product development to capture the market demand. There were a few other factors too. We understood the benefit of bringing in external perspectives from experienced investors, who could guide us in building the business beyond just the financial support. Furthermore, we were aware that building an AI solution with the scope we envisioned required a dedicated team of experts, advanced computing resources, and extensive testing - all of which would need a substantial financial backing. Therefore, we decided to raise venture capital.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X.VC has been an invaluable partner since the very early days of Vodex. When we approached them with our idea and a rudimentary prototype, they immediately saw the potential and agreed to back us. This gave us the initial seed funding required to start building out our product in a more serious and focused manner. But their help has not been limited to financial support. The 100X team brings a vast amount of experience in building and scaling businesses, and they've generously shared their wisdom with us. They've mentored us through some of our toughest challenges, and have always been available for guidance and advice. Moreover, they provided us with opportunities to connect with industry leaders and potential clients through their network, which has helped us immensely in gaining early traction and market validation. Their introductions have also led to key partnerships that have helped us improve our product offering.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?In the early stages of Vodex, we encountered a variety of challenges. First and foremost, there was the technological challenge. Building an AI-powered system capable of automating outbound voice sales and marketing calls is no small task. It required us to solve complex problems in speech recognition, LLM’s, and deep learning. Overcoming this challenge required a combination of hiring the right talent. We were fortunate enough to bring on board a team of talented engineers and AI experts, who were passionate about the problems we were trying to solve. The second major challenge was market acceptance. Given that we were introducing a novel solution, it was hard at first to convince businesses to adopt our product. There were concerns about the effectiveness of GenAI in such a human-driven task, and whether the technology could truly replicate or exceed the efficiency of human telesales representatives. To address this, we focused heavily on demonstrating the benefits of our product. We offered initial trials to potential customers, collected their feedback, and continuously improved our product based on their insights. We also worked on showcasing real-life success stories, highlighting how businesses could benefit from using Vodex.Q6. What stage is Vodex at present?At present, Vodex is in the growth stage. We have a functional product that's being used by several businesses. We're now focused on expanding our customer base and improving our technology. We are now raising our seed round to help us expand in our GTM and support the product Research and Development as well.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our immediate goal is to scale Vodex and establish a strong market presence. In the next two years, we plan to expand internationally and invest in R&amp;D to keep improving our product and offerings.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?The potential impact we can have on businesses and their growth is what keeps us going. Every time a customer tells us how much our product has helped them, it gives us the motivation to keep pushing.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Firstly, always keep the customer at the center of what you do. Generative AI is an exciting field with immense potential, but it's easy to get lost in the technology and lose sight of the problems you're trying to solve. Secondly, invest heavily in research and development. The field of AI is advancing at a breakneck pace. To stay relevant and competitive, it's critical to keep up with the latest research and advancements. Thirdly, be prepared for a steep learning curve and numerous challenges. Building an AI-powered product is complex and can be fraught with technical difficulties. Persistence and resilience are key.Lastly, remember that building a startup is not a sprint, but a marathon. It can take a while to see the fruits of your labor. Stay patient, stay focused, and keep pushing. The generative AI sector holds a lot of promise, and I believe there's plenty of room for new ideas and players.&nbsp;About Kumar Saurav:Kumar Saurav, Co-Founder and CTO of Vodex.ai, leads the development and delivery of Generative AI-powered solutions for businesses. With over 11 years of experience in the IT, IoT, Robotics, and AI industries, he has a deep understanding of the technical and business challenges that their clients face, and how to overcome them with innovative technology.

Kumar Saurav, Co-Founder and CTO, Vodex.ai shares about his startup journey.

The field of AI is advancing at a breakneck pace

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-Abhilash Pandey, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Greenkin&nbsp;Abhilash Pandey, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Greenkin shares his start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Greenkin come up?During 2020, when the whole world was impacted by COVID, the founders, Ritika and I, Abhilash, moved to our farmhouse and stayed there for about 9 months, Living a life amidst nature inspired us to make our city lives greener and better as well. In 2021, while shopping for plants ourselves for our home in Mumbai, we realized the pain points that Indian homeowners and plant lovers face in finding good indoor plants. This led to the idea of Greenkin, a platform that allows people to shop for exotic and easy-care indoor plants for their homes.Q2. What made you start working on Greenkin and executing this idea?Before Greenkin, I had run another start-up. Post its exit, I wanted to build another business that I was passionate about that had scalability and a growing&nbsp;market. When I realized the existing market opportunity that Greenkin had and the genuine pain points that consumers face, it was hard for me to keep myself away from following my passion for making the world greener.Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?Right at the idea stage, we knew that building something as big as Greenkin required capital. There are thousands of MSMEs that sell plants and yet, the problems that end consumers face haven't been solved. Solving big problems needs&nbsp;great ideas and a good amount of Capital to bring the ideas to fruition.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?Capital, Mentorship, Connects! When I think about Greenkin, I cannot imagine it without 100X and the kind of mentorship we have received from the beginning. 100X has been a part&nbsp;of this wonderful journey from even before the website was launched when we were working hard to set up everything that was required to bring Greenkin to Indian Consumers.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?Challenges are a part&nbsp;of an&nbsp;entrepreneur's daily life. We have always been aware that every problem can be solved in various ways, and we apply design thinking to solve most of our challenges at Greenkin. We always&nbsp;create multiple paths to solving a problem and prioritize&nbsp;these solutions. If Plan A does not&nbsp;work, we try Plan B, and so on.&nbsp;Q6. What stage is Greenkin at present?Greenkin is at a very early stage, and we have shipped over 7000 plants already. We are currently recording double-digit month-on-month growth. Our aim is to help Indian&nbsp;consumers make their&nbsp;homes beautiful with&nbsp;plants and natural&nbsp;elements, and we have yet only scratched the surface. We see tremendous potential in Greenkin, and feel that we are solving a very common pain point in a very large market.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our vision is to make Greenkin a self-sustainable venture, where our Customers fuel growth. Over the next 1 to 2 years, we are looking to grow multi-fold with a track&nbsp;of exceptional customer service and NPS. Greenkin aims to&nbsp;be in every household in India, and we are focused on creating memorable experiences for our consumers.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?I, and the whole team at Greenkin, are extremely happy with the work that we are doing. With every plant we ship, we are spreading happiness and bringing a smile to people's lives. Frankly, it is hard to get demotivated when one is doing something that brings satisfaction to their work life, every day. At Greenkin, our philosophy is that our work should keep us going, not the other way around where we need to keep going to do the work.Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Gardening as an industry is one of the oldest industries, and still has thousands of MSMEs operating in India. Modern consumers require fresh ideas, so build something unique. Also, I believe founders need to keep in mind that since we are dealing with live plants, there is an extra layer of handholding and support required for Customers. This is a huge space in itself for new ventures.&nbsp;About Abhilash Pandey:Abhilash is a business graduate from IIM Calcutta.&nbsp;He has worked with Global Conglomerates like Microsoft and Facebook.&nbsp;He founded and built InfiSecure, from 2016 to 2019, as one of the top Bot Security businesses globally, and has a keen understanding of building and scaling a start-up. He is currently heading business as Co-Founder and CEO at Greenkin.

Abhilash Pandey , Co-Founder & CEO, Greenkin shares about his startup journey.

Our aim is to help Indian consumers make their homes beautiful with plants and natural elements, and we have yet only scratched the surface

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-Anurav Dave, Founder and CEO, LUZO&nbsp;Anurav Dave, Founder and CEO, LUZO shares Start-up journey from idea and execution to overcoming challenges, in an interview with the 100X.VC Team.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of LUZO come up?Our co-founder's mother started a salon and spa right before covid. In the lockdown, everything had to shut down and they faced great losses! We, being close friends, decided to help him and his family. In the quest of helping, we realised the technological gap in the beauty and wellness service industry. This opportunity led to LUZO!Q2. What made you start working on LUZO and executing this idea?I have always had a passion for starting something of my own. In fact, I have failed a few times before! Nevertheless, when I saw the opportunity to help my friend and build a startup too, it only took me a day to change my career.&nbsp;Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?After we launched LUZO, we saw an organic demand from customers. However, we only had a few salons to cater to their demand. We realised that salons were happy to come on board too! However, we needed funds to scale it geographically to a wider set of audience and salons. This led to our meeting with 100X.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?I still remember the first in person meeting we had with all the partners. The meeting ended with 100X giving us 2 targets to achieve before going forward. When we achieved them, we realised how important they were for us! I believe it’s their experience that showed us the right direction. Also, the early connections and education we received via masterclasses was incredible!Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?One of the major challenges we faced was slow and fearful execution leading to limited growth. With 100X we realised the importance of scaling rapidly. We started taking quicker decisions, analysed them and made the necessary changes instantly.&nbsp;Q6. What stage is LUZO at present?LUZO is currently at an expansion stage. We started off in Mumbai but we have received several customer requests from various leading cities! Since our model is highly scalable, we believe we can capitalise on our first mover advantage.Q7. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?As founders we aim to build an ecosystem around the beauty and wellness service industry. This is a highly underserved market growing at a 28% CAGR! Everyday when we hear our customers and work with numerous salons, we get a better understanding of their pain points. This gives us an immense opportunity to build the right ecosystem for the industry.Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?Every time a customer compliments our service and a salon says they received more than expected business, we as a team are highly motivated. I believe appreciation for the right deed keeps you going.&nbsp;Q9. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?The beauty and wellness service industry still works as if it’s 2010! There is a tremendous lack of technology available to these service providers. While there is an ever increasing demand from customers, the quality of supply for the same is limited. There are multiple problems to be solved in this sector! Pick the one you can relate to the most and start building. You are bound to meet success!&nbsp;&nbsp;About Anurav Dave:Anurav Dave is the founder &amp; CEO at LUZO. He has pursued his Bachelors of Law and has worked in the role of business development and sales with a UK based startup. Anurav founded LUZO along with his two close friends in the midst of covid. LUZO is now rapidly growing in multiple cities with numerous salon partners eager to join while customers enjoy exclusive benefits at these renowned salons!

Anurav Dave, Founder and CEO, LUZO shares about his startup journey.

There are multiple problems to be solved in this sector! Pick the one you can relate to the most and start building. You are bound to meet success! 

-Niharika Bhargava, Founder and CEO of The Little Farm Co.Team 100X.VC interviewed the Founders' of their Portfolio Companies about their Start-up journey; from idea, execution to overcoming challenges. Here, Niharika Bhargava, Founder and CEO of The Little Farm Co shares her responses.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of The Little Farm Co. come up?&nbsp;We are a family that loves food, and after my grand mom passed away we really used to miss the pickles she made at home . When I looked outside in the market for what kind of pickles are available in the market, they somehow did not have the same taste or appeal as homemade pickles do. That's when I realised that there is a gap in the market.&nbsp; &nbsp;I started collecting all the family recipes with the help of my dad and family members. I did a small farmers market to test the product and we sold out. There was no looking back since then. Post which the scaling journey started and we started growing our ingredients and stabilised the recipes and standardised processes. The key insights for us were most of the working professionals in India don't have the time to make pickles at home, do not have easy access to homemade pickles and what they find in the market is filled with preservatives.&nbsp;Q2. What made you start working on The Little Farm Co and executing this idea?Once we market tested the recipes, the next step was to stabilise the recipe as we don’t use any preservatives. We managed to stabilise it to 12 month + successfully and started scaling. In fact, we make these tasty pickles with minimum manual intervention but preserve tasty old forgotten recipes using our secret and quality ingredients.&nbsp;Q3. When did you realise the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?Think of it pickle is consumed in every Indian household, be it breakfast, lunch and dinner. But one turning point for us was when we got published in one Hindi national paper organically and our website exploded with orders from pin codes we hadn’t even imagined. We decided this could be big and if we have to scale we would need capital to make The Little Farm Co. a household name. Another reason apart from capital was access to the right partners, FMCG sector is usually a very closed off sector and having the right set of partners helps in achieving the right product market fit. With a VC like 100 x coming in, we realised they could help us in our scaling journey like they have with other FMCG brands.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100 x didn’t just come in with capital, but also mentoring and the pool of networks that it opened for us. The 90 days we spent in Mumbai for the 100 x masterclasses definitely really helped us as founders. 100 x connected us with many founders in the consumer space, which helped us understand and learn from their journeys. The value of this is huge because it helps us save a lot of time as we can learn from other founders experiences.&nbsp;&nbsp;Q5. Has your startup pivoted? If so, What has the pivot been?The ethos of our brand has always been the same, there have been some smalls pivots which I feel are essential as per what is needed for the brand to grow. One of them was me running this brand in a self-funded set up profitably before and then deciding to raise Venture capital and successfully doing so. The other pivot was, we were selling offline via farmer markets and boutique stores but now shifting the focus to digital and only focussing on a few geographies. They main reason was not to spread ourselves too thin and expand based on revenue bases targets after mastering a few areas and channels. This pivot has definitely helped us scale rapidly.Q6. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?One major challenge for me was that I did not belong to this background, I come from a marketing background and had no experience in the food space. But I am happy to say that I learned on the job and built the right team, got the right mentors to scale this. Apart from this FMCG space is a very competitive space so scaling operations and distribution wise was a challenge. But post our fund raise we have started to build the right team and distribution networks.&nbsp;&nbsp;Q7. What stage is The Little Farm at present?We are at a scaling stage and my vision is to make the little farm co a household name in the condiments space.&nbsp;We are currently a digital first brand selling via our website, amazon and quick commerce platforms. the vision in the near future is to dominate these channels.&nbsp;Q8. As founders, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?Our vision is to focus on our strength of distribution and accessibility and build a solid FMCG brand in the condiments space with a 360 degree approach&nbsp;via multiple sales channels such as MT,GT, Quick come and website, as well as internationally and further scale the business&nbsp;Q9. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?One major thing that always motivates me to keep going is to see how far I have come and the efforts we have put in so far. The others being customers feedback and approval on the product, the sales and repeat customers. And lastly, the farmer women we are supporting while building this.Q10. Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?One message I give to all founders is to is that if you have a great idea do try it, you wouldn’t know if it works till you explore it further. Deep dive into testing your product and market research. If you get the right fit there is no stopping.&nbsp;About Niharika Bhargava:Niharika Bhargava is the founder and CEO of The Little Farm Co. Niharika comes from a digital marketing background , a Ted-x speaker and has done MSc in Marketing strategy and Innovation from Cass Business School London and further worked in the corporate industry.&nbsp; The Little Farm Co. has received the 3rd women Astitva Award 2018 by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry a recognition to promote women empowerment. The Little Farm Co. was started by her as a personal need when her grandmother passed away who used to make pickles at home and she realized that most of the pickles available in the market and filled with preservatives and do not have the same taste or appeal as homemade pickles do. Now this brand supports many tribal farmer women and their families.&nbsp;

Niharika Bhargava, Founder and CEO of The Little Farm Co. shares about her startup journey.

Deep dive into testing your product and market research. If you get the right fit there is no stopping.

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Investor Relations from Investor point of viewYour investor is your biggest ambassador in the VC world. As an early stage founder, establishing strong investor relations is crucial for the success of your startup. Investor relations for a startup refers to the strategic communication and relationship-building efforts by a startup with its investors, both existing and potential.Why investor relations?One of the most significant benefits of investor relations is the ability to attract funding. By establishing credibility and maintaining transparent communication with investors, startups can access additional capital to fuel their growth, develop new products, expand into new markets, and invest in research and development. It also helps the startup maintain a positive reputation in the investment community, which can attract further interest from potential investors.Positive investor relations can lead to a higher company valuation. When investors have confidence in a startup's management team, business model, and growth potential, they may be willing to pay a higher price for the company's shares, increasing the overall valuation of the startup.Each meeting with investors can be a valuable learning opportunity. Engaging with investors regularly allows startups to gain insights into market trends, investor sentiment, and industry developments. This understanding can help the company make more informed strategic decisions and adjust its approach based on feedback. Consistent updates serve as a way to reflect on the company's progress, challenges, and future direction.At 100X.VC, we place a strong emphasis on maintaining robust investor relations, recognizing their significance for early-stage founders. Most founders in this stage may not have a board of directors, but creating accountability is essential. One of the best ways to achieve this is by consistently providing updates to investors. We encourage founders to view investor reports as an opportunity for reflection and evaluation. It allows them to gain deeper insights into their company's trajectory and effectively articulate their vision. By fostering strong investor relations, startups can create a solid foundation for sustainable growth and success in the market.Right InvestorWhile startups should maintain a certain level of transparency and compliance with relevant regulations for all their investors, the practice of targeting and engaging with specific investors can significantly impact the company's growth, success, and overall trajectory. Investors with&nbsp; relevant experience and expertise in your industry with understanding of your business can provide valuable insights, mentorship, and guidance, which can be instrumental in overcoming challenges and making strategic decisions.Investors with a strong network can open doors to potential customers, partners, and other investors. Their connections can help your startup expand its reach and accelerate growth.Managing the investorsYou think programming software is tough, try communicating with investors to get their attention. Invest time in what to speak and what not to speak while pitching. Goal of most questions you ask an investor should be to understand what resonates with investors, what they are concerned about and what they would do in your shoes.Understanding the investors is the most important part of effective investor relations.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Founders often feel investors are sufficiently updated, yet, only 50% of investors feel their current and potential invested startups keep them sufficiently updated.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/investor_update_1_ff95a080ae.png"></figure>&nbsp;Founders should provide investors with the information they want and need, even during periods of slower progress. Transparency and consistent updates on product roadmap, key performance indicators (KPIs), financials, significant initiatives, new customers and new hires foster substantive conversations and build trust. The investor updates should include highlights of achievements since the last update, current challenges, and how the company is addressing them. It is also important to make specific requests for investor assistance, express gratitude for previous support, and share customer stories that humanize the updates. Investees should be clear, concise and consistent.&nbsp;Key Metrics for Investor Relations:Key metrics play a crucial role in this process, as they provide a quantitative and objective way to assess the company's financial health, operational efficiency, and growth potential. When it comes to tracking startup performance, various metrics are relevant. It is important that the startup decides 5-6 metrics most relevant for their business and consistently reports on them. Some key metrics to be considered include:<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/metric_0370037dfa.png"></figure>Survival MetricsA few key metrics important for all investors from all their invested startups are Cash balance, burn and runway. These define the survival for the startup. These also help in planning the next fundraise for the startup.Operational MetricsThis tells about the operational efficiency of a startup. Unit economics, Revenue (Actual vs Projected), Percentage revenue growth (MoM), average revenue per user (ARPU), Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), annual recurring revenue (ARR), cash flow from operating activities and Return on Ad spend (ROAS)Profitability MetricsProfitability metrics tells an investor when the startup will start generating return on their investment. These include gross margin, contribution margins and EBIDTA margin&nbsp;User Metrics:Number of users: actual vs forecasted, New customers acquired, churn rate, Monthly active users (MAU), Customer lifetime value (LTV), Customer acquisition cost (CAC), Net promoter score and Concentration risk (revenue from largest customer as a percentage of total revenue)Frequency of communicationThe frequency of updates may vary based on the stage of the company. At 100X.VC, we typically request monthly updates for pre-seed companies and quarterly updates for ongoing communication with our other portfolio founders. We believe that regular updates at these intervals allow for effective tracking of progress and maintaining a strong partnership with our invested companies.ConclusionAt 100X.VC, we emphasize the importance of regular investor updates as a means to foster trust, facilitate meaningful communication, and support the growth of our portfolio companies. Investors only succeed when their portfolio companies do well. Investors feel a sense of responsibility towards the founders and founder updates are&nbsp; a criterion for the investors to confirm that their capital is in good hands.

Read why establishing strong investor relations is crucial for the success of your startup

Investor Relations from Investor point of view

-Ayushi Rungta, CEO, OpenOffersTeam 100X.VC interviewed the Founders' of their Portfolio Companies about their Start-up journey; from idea, execution to overcoming challenges. Here, Ayushi Rungta, CEO, OpenOffers shares her responses.&nbsp;Q1. How did the idea of Open offers come up?I was into recruitment for over a decade, worked for startups to big names like VMWare. I come from the background of talent acquisition, and personally faced the agony of candidate ghosting. Every time a candidate ghosted, I felt that it was not worth my time away from my daughter. While I used to work for startups, I assumed that "Candidate No shows" is just a problem for startups and small companies because of the job insecurity that candidates may have as when compared to big companies. When I joined VMware, my assumption turned out to be wrong and saw that they also have similar struggle. The recruiters KPI is not just the no. of offers made but also no. of candidates joined. Here I got to interact with many other recruiters who came from Google to other big tech companies and what I learnt is that they too have this struggle. This made me understand that its a talent market and irrespective of the size of the company, every company has a broad set of companies with which it fights for talent in silos. And this not a new problem, it has been there since decades. The only thing is that recruiters, hiring managers and even the CEOs, are now more vocal about rather just adopting it as the new normal. Possessed to do something about addressing this, I came up with OpenOffers. OpenOffers is the anonymous network based platform for the enterprise recruiters dealing with the same candidate, collaborating and sharing the information about their offered candidate with the network. Which helps the recruiters to be prompt in decision making which benefits their respective organisation. OpenOffers aims to be the new CIBIL for the HR Industry.Q2. What made you start working on Open offers and executing this idea?"Candidate no show on date of joining" is a huge risk for business. I have often seen companies losing contracts because they were unable to hire on time. As a recruiter I faced this day-to-day problem at work. I searched for the solution but unfortunately couldn't find one. Recruiters and companies have just learnt to live with this issue. Mostly, HR techs either help in Sourcing talent or Improving the candidate experience post offer and joining. The main problem is lack of visibility about your candidate between offered date and joining date. The only source of information is candidate himself. I would say, its a highly competitive talent market, and there is no point in cribbing about the ecosystem and it may not be a responsibility of a candidate to inform you about their change of plan but rather organizations need to adopt right tools which can help them safeguard their business risk and interest. Candidate no shows though is the problem of every recruiter but ultimately it impacts the business. As per Indeed research due to Candidate Ghosting the tech companies lose around 11,700 Crores rupees in a year apart from the business and reputation loss. And this is only India tech companies, globally the impact is huge. Evidence of no appropriate solution to this problem and the size of the market made me leave my job at VMware and start working on OpenOffers and executing this idea.&nbsp;Q3. When did you realize the need to raise Venture Capital - Seed funding?OpenOffers is a B2B SaaS platform. Initially I invested my own savings to build the initial version of product ( MVP ) and took it to a few tech CHRO's for the feedback. Most of them specifically thanked me for starting something like this. I inculcated a lot of feedback, prepared answers to questions that may come up. Thereafter, I started my sales and every company I talked to was excited to get onboarded but there was one question that all of them had was how fast I can grow the network and get their competitors on the platform? I needed to be fast. In platform network business the more people join the network the more value it's able to generate for the network. Like any other network platform business such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Ola, Uber, the initial cost of building the network was high before it could be actually monetized. Since my solution was validated by CHROs, I was able to get initial few customers on the platform. Now to grow this network at a faster pace I needed money, mentorship, connections and credibility. For all this a VC seed fund was an appropriate step.Q4. How has 100X helped you at the beginning of your journey?100X are Founder Friendly VCs. For me personally they are our guardians in this business industry. When they entered, they filled up many gaps which most of the founders initially ignore, from "The Founders Agreement" to "Hiring a in-house product team" and many other such things. Getting a backing from 100Xvc helped us with more credibility in our customer world as well as in the entire Investor community. They and their team are just a call away to help us in any aspect of the business. We can always bounce back any of the thoughts or ideas that we may have and gauge the merit of it. The 100Xvc master-classes at Mumbai was of immense help since we got connected to many elite business people and it was more than any MBA course an entrepreneur can do. What they say and promote "unlimited mentorship", they actually do.&nbsp; Although there are many early stage VC's in India, I have not seen anyone betting big on founders at the idea stage, at a stage when you don't have numbers to show but only a dream to sell. I feel privileged to be backed by them.Q5. What challenges did you face &amp; how did you overcome them?For any network based platform there is always a chicken and egg problem. For example: You won't be on WhatsApp unless your friends and family are on WhatsApp. While this process takes its own sweet time, the idea is to get the initial believers on the platform and keep nurturing the others. That's how we got the initial few companies who said that we are fine to just be the data provider for you since we want this solution to succeed. And that's how we are now able to generate value for the customers and we have many customers now joining the platform whom we gave a demo to 6 months ago.Q6. What stage is Open offers at present?At present we have cracked the chicken and egg problem and started delivering value to our network. Very soon we will be able to start realizing revenue since we are able to deliver value regularly to our customers.Q7. As a founder, what are your goals for the next 1-2 years?<ul><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To get big tech companies such as Wipro, TCS, HCL, Infosys, Accenture on OpenOffers platform.&nbsp;</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Achieve zero CAC</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Be a default household name in the hiring industry.&nbsp;</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Make money for my shareholders</li></ul>Q8. What keeps you motivated &amp; keeps you going?"No show on the date of joining" I have dealt with this issue for over a decade and this is my chance to solve this for the whole industry. Along this journey, I have gathered support from a lot of leaders who are helping me for no personal gain but they want this problem to be addressed. Every business has its low and high, but personally since my childhood I have always been a fighter and I have always been a finisher in everything I do. I do understand that building a business is not an overnight jackpot but building a real, sustainable business takes time, requires hustle and lots of sacrifices.&nbsp;Q9. &nbsp;Your message for Startup founders building in the same sector?Be customer obsessed, have patience since the future of HR Tech is very bright because no one can replace the human capital.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;About Ayushi Rungta:Ayushi has a decade of experience in hiring and recruitments, her last stint was at VMWare. She is a gold medalist in in her Post Graduate in Personnel Management &amp; Industrial Relations from BHU and is highly passionate about addressing core challenges faced by recruiters.

Ayushi Rungta, CEO, OpenOffers. shares about her startup journey.

 I do understand that building a business is not an overnight jackpot but building a real, sustainable business takes time, requires hustle and lots of sacrifices. 

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The <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">100X.VC</a> Walk-in Pitch event is an occasion where the aspirations and dreams of startups coincide with the realities of the entrepreneurial journey, pushing participants to step out of their comfort zones and embrace the uncertainties ahead. Held at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">ATLAS SkillTech University</a> in Mumbai on July 10th, 2023, this event attracted nearly 50+ tech startups from across the country. It was a day filled with brilliant minds eager to receive positive feedback and investor interest.The event kicked off with a surge of enthusiasm as startups began networking and preparing to present their groundbreaking ideas. The founding partners delivered an encouraging inaugural address, setting the stage for the pitches that followed. Startups from diverse sectors like FinTech, Agri-Tech, Web3, E-commerce, Healthcare, and Sports Tech among others participated in this one-day event.This was a crucial moment for each startup—an opportunity to captivate, persuade, and leave a lasting impression. They had 10 minutes to showcase their cutting-edge products or solutions. After the initial round of pitches, 25% of the startups were shortlisted for a second presentation in front of all the founders. These shortlisted startups are now one step closer to securing their first funding of INR 1.25 Cr from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">100X.VC</a>, accompanied by invaluable mentoring and guidance to establish their presence in the industry.While moments of disappointment or constructive criticism may temporarily dampen spirits, the resilience and growth mindset of the participants drive them to learn and improve. Each pitch event brings us closer to realizing our vision of making a meaningful impact in the startup world. Such events are pivotal in empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs, fostering innovation, and contributing to the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem.In summary, the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">100X.VC</a> Walk-in Pitch event was a dynamic gathering of startup founders, where ambitious minds converged to showcase their groundbreaking ideas. It was a platform that fostered growth, learning, and networking—an important catalyst in nurturing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and driving innovation.&nbsp;About us:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">100X.VC</a>, a sector-agnostic venture fund investing in early-stage startups using iSAFE Notes. We are a SEBI Registered CAT I Fund, and invest the first cheque in our portfolio companies. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/7084503862828556289/?author=urn%3Ali%3Afs_normalized_company%3A14613977#">100X.VC</a> has a fixed ticket size of 1.25 crore for 15% future equity.

100X.VC Walk-in Pitch Event, held at ATLAS SkillTech University on the 10th of July, 2023 attracted 50+ Tech startups showing up from across the country.

Startup founders from various sectors such as Agri-Tech, Web3, E-commerce, Healthcare, and Sports Tech among others presented their breakthrough ideas and received insights to aid their entrepreneurial journey.


Pitching Chronicles: Unveiling the Highlights of the Walk in Pitch Event

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-Visa Ray, Investments Team at Log9 Materials.Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India. Here, Visa Ray, Investments Team at Log9 Materials shares her responses.&nbsp;1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing business?I don't have a burning problem that I want to solve for yet, in the long term, but rather I want to aid in solving for many problems that really matter to me for creating impact. Capital is an important commodity to help cater to solutions which are solving for huge problems. That's why i am in venture investing, to be on the ringside of the many problems that i want to solve for.2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like.Work day: In short, a lot of reading and being privileged to chat with super smart people(read founders of amazing startups trying to solve for pressing problems through breakthrough technology)Leisure Day and work day: the line is pretty blurry. But, trying to get back to reading fiction.3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?&nbsp;Regarding the future of India, we are just getting started. But l, lots to do not only in terms of building, but also in terms of infrastructure to enable founders to build breakthrough technology to create impact globally. Also, we need government intervention in terms of grants and capacity building.4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.Bullish on alt protein, synthetic bio, new chemistries and enablers of existing chemistry energy, bio-energy etc. across spectrums focused on sustainability.5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor.A) Patience, patience and patience.&nbsp;B) A lot of&nbsp; Humility.&nbsp;&nbsp;C) Someone&nbsp; super important in my life once told me that it's important to know oneself, to know who you are and what motivates you- a kind of multidimensional self-awareness also influenced by past events leading to developing an appetite for taking risk, which often drives what you want to back/invest in, and then you need to constantly improve on it. I'm nowhere close to that, but I'm at it.&nbsp;D) learning to be OK to let goStill learning...&nbsp;6. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs.&nbsp;One book if i can think of for founders/builders.&nbsp; "Build by Tony Fadell". It's something I would go back to. It talks just not about how to build great products, but also how to make sure how to pick what you want to build, and many other amazing nuggets of wisdom

Visa Ray, Investments Team at Log9 Materials, shares her responses about her journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.

Capital is an important commodity to help cater to solutions which are solving for huge problems.

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Karun Arya, Chief Growth Officer at GetVantage, shares his responses about his journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.

At GetVantage we're excited to back early and growth stage founders that are spearheading the growth of revenue-generating businesses.

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The stage was set, the energy was high, and the National Incubation Conclave (NIC) was off to an incredible start on May 19th, 2023! 100X.VC has been at the forefront of investing aggressively in early stage startups across India - with a mission to deploy capital in 100 startups per year.&nbsp;With 11% of our total portfolio startups coming out of incubators, we have always felt that there is more which needs to be done at the ground level. A capacity building exercise for incubators - where key attributes of which startup, what kind of founder and the stage at which we invest at - was a requirement, need and a much overdue exercise!In collaboration with AIC RMP - who agreed to host the National Incubators Conclave - Paathshaala - which brought together incubator CEOs and portfolio investment leads, we shared our methodology of identifying winners. The goal? Equipping these incubation superheroes with the insights they need to manage and evaluate high-growth startups.&nbsp;With support extended by Startup India, Niti Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission, 100X.VC is delighted to have spent two days with 20+ Incubators across India. Hungry for both - insights and knowledge, participants indulged in collaborating over various aspects of building a successful Incubation Centre.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/day_1_54af09ca15.png"></figure> Let's dive into the exciting highlights that left participants buzzing with enthusiasm!<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/2222_9771205c83.png"><figcaption>In the Image:&nbsp;Uday Wankawala (CEO, AIC-RMP), Jai Mrug (Director, AIC-RMP)</figcaption></figure>Day 1: Welcome Address and Philosophy:Mr. Jai Mrug, the Director of AIC-RMP, and Mr. Uday Wankawala, the CEO of AIC-RMP, set the stage with their warm and inspiring welcome address. They unveiled the secret sauce behind AIC-RMP's success—a philosophy rooted in fostering entrepreneurial growth and innovation.Afternoon Session:&nbsp;Kicked off with Diksha Nigam, Senior Manager at Invest India, Shashank Randev, Founder VC and Co-Founder 100X.VC, Jai Murg,&nbsp; and Uday Wankawala took the stage, injecting the room with electrifying energy. The virtual presence of Mr. Rohit Gupta, Program Lead, Niti Aayog added to the Government's vision of backing and empowering Incubation Centres across the country.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/day_1_panel_min_cd3f0fcafd.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Jai Murg, Uday Wankawala, Shashank Randev, Diksha Nigam</figcaption></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_1_min_1cb00a4a26.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Shashank Randev</figcaption></figure>Deep Dive into 100X.VC:Shashank Randev took centre stage to dive deep into 100X.VC’s vision of investing in 100 companies per year. He revealed the funds approach, the Class application process, post-selection journey, and speed methodology of investing via iSAFE Notes.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_2_min_b00d717d7d.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Vatsal Kanakiya</figcaption></figure>Distribution and Branding:Vatsal Kanakiya, Principal and CTO, 100X.VC, enlightened the audience on the importance of distribution, branding and digital presence for incubators. Additionally covered, sourcing and attracting young startups to join incubation centres.Learning Activity and Case Studies:The real magic began as a hands-on learning activity unfolded, immersing participants in the world of startup investments. Through captivating case studies, four sectors—Saas, Gen AI, Healthcare, and Sustainability—were explored in depth. The participants played the role of evaluators and decided whether they would invest or not. The activity featured both invested and non-invested startups of 100X.VC, providing a comprehensive learning.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_3_min_f35d964aba.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Uday Wankawala, &nbsp;Ketaki Ogale, Vihang Mirkhelkar, Vatsal Kanakiya, Shashank Randev</figcaption></figure>Vatsal along with Ketki, co-founder of BHyve (one of 100X.VC's portfolio companies and an incubatee of AIC RMP), initiated the sector-specific discussions, starting with SaaS Case studies. Vatsal took the discussion ahead with Generative AI-based case studies. Shashank then presented the Healthcare and Sustainability-based case studies. The incubator CEOs and investment leads actively participated in these discussions, sharing their expertise and viewpoints, and collectively evaluating the startups' potential.Conclusion:Day 1 of the National Incubation Conclave demystified many concepts on sourcing, selection, deal flow management, portfolio management, and effective evaluation of high-growth startups.&nbsp; Day 2 (20th May)<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_4_min_505bed2032.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Diksha Nigam, Sr. Manager, Invest India</figcaption></figure>Keynote Talk:The day began with a blast as Diksha, Senior Manager at Invest India, took the stage to deliver an insightful keynote talk. She transported the audience through the inspiring journey of Startup India, unveiling the remarkable Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS). Diksha also shared insights into the program's scouting, partnerships, and facilitation support to incubators. Dr. Jayant Kulkarni, the Executive Director of RMP, followed up with a discussion on RMP's philosophy and new initiatives.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/IMG_0558_min_1_1_min_1_b96c7f8875.JPG"><figcaption>In the Image: Dr. Jayant Kulkarni (Executive Director, RMP)</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_6_min_d78e92926c.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Chintan Vaishnav (Chair Startup 20 under G20 India Presidency)</figcaption></figure>Special Interaction: Surprise guest added the extra energy, boosting everyone's spirit. Chintan Vaishnav, Chair of the Startup 20 Engagement Group under G20 India Presidency, GOI, joined virtually for a special interaction. The incubators were thrilled to engage, gaining unique perspectives on building new Digital India and Bharat.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_5_min_13a81a8d2c.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Shashank Randev</figcaption></figure>Investing through iSAFE Notes:Shashank once again took the stage to unravel the secrets of investing through iSAFE notes, providing a comprehensive explanation of the simple to use and execute investment instrument. Participants discovered the flexibility and support iSAFE notes offers to both startups and investors.<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_7_min_87982283c7.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Vipul Mehta (CEO, Tipping Point)</figcaption></figure>Term-Sheet Insights:Vipul Mehta, the CEO of Tipping Point, delved into the intricacies of term sheets. His session provided valuable insights, unravelling the mysteries behind these agreements. Participants gained a deeper understanding of the nuances involved in startup investments, equipping them with the knowledge to navigate this magical realm.&nbsp;Financial Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance:Dr. Farzan Ghadially, the Financial Advisor &amp; Mentor at AIC-RMP, shared his insights on incubators' financial sustainability and entrepreneurial finance.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_9_min_b88c8d2ff2.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Arvind Rege (Managing Committee Member, RMP)</figcaption></figure>Closing Remarks and Management Processes:Arvind Rage, a Managing Committee Member at RMP, brought the event to a close with his captivating closing remarks. He emphasised the importance of various management processes for incubators, unlocking the secrets to successful operations. Followed by Interactive Q&amp;A session with Vatsal, Uday, Farzan, and Vipul.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_10_min_a310ba4cee.png"><figcaption>In the Image: Vatsal Kanakiya, Vipul Mehta, Dr. Farzan Ghadially, Uday Wankawala</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://100x-strapi-bucket.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Untitled_1920_1080_px_11_min_8eb103bf69.png"></figure>Conclusion:The National Incubation Conclave concluded with a bang, leaving participants inspired and equipped with building&nbsp; better incubation centres. The two-day conclave provided a platform for incubator CEOs and portfolio investment leads to enhance their skills and expand their network. With insightful keynote talks, interactive sessions, and expert guidance, the conclave propelled participants into the world of startup investments with newfound confidence. The stage was set with the entrepreneurial superheroes ready to move to the next level.&nbsp;

Empowering Incubation Superheroes:  Capacity Building, National Incubation Conclave

National Incubation Conclave 2023

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-Supal Shah, CEO at ARCON Container.Team 100X interviewed some of the top investors across the globe about their venture investing journeys, startups, and India. Here, Supal Shah, CEO at ARCON Container, shares his responses.&nbsp;1. What is your motivation to be in venture investing businessTwo things<ul><li>You get an opportunity to meet young and experienced entrepreneurs who dared to think differently and challenge the status quo of the industry.&nbsp;</li><li>Startup as an asset class in India is still at an early stage and I see a huge upside in the years to come. So, may be a return on startups may beat all other asset class in next 5 to 7 years.&nbsp;</li></ul>2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look likeMonday to Friday – I only work.Saturday and Sunday – Generally I spend time with family or friends or going out for leisure. Normally my weekends are also for my research or reading books etc. I am a Rotarian so weekend normally I attend my club projects.&nbsp;&nbsp;3. What is your view on the future of India as a marketIndia is reaping the benefit of strong leadership at the Central Government and various reforms which this government has started since 2014. Lot will depend upon our ability to scale up our infrastructure. So far I am very bullish as India is laying foundation for long term and sustainable growth as story is just started. Next 20 to 25 years will belongs to India and Indians because – Young educated Demography, Excellent Digital literacy and most important Democracy. These 3 Ds’ will be a game changer for India.&nbsp;4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back<ul><li>Experienced and credit worthy promoters who has a clarity about their product and services and problems what they are solving</li><li>Rational approach between growth and marketing spending. I hate companies or promoters who over spent on marketing to push sales and when they pull back their marketing expenditure, their sales fall. This is not a sustainable business model&nbsp;</li><li>Ability of the promoter to remain capitalise. In India so far promoters are underestimating the importance of required capital. It is important for a company to remain capitalised for 18 to 24 months which will remove worry of the promoter to execute his business plan.&nbsp;</li><li>Inviting good investors on board who can back promoters when they need more capital.</li><li>Scalability of the business. I generally prefer to invest for those businesses where TAM is clearly definable.&nbsp;</li><li>Favourable government policies</li><li>Overall growth of the industry. If industry itself is growing then chances of success are more</li><li>Clear path to become sustainable profit, at the end of the tunnel startups need to stop burning and need to achieve positive PAT as otherwise there is no fun to remain in the business.</li><li>Ability of the promoter to retain key team members.</li><li>I also like to back young promoter at idea stage as chances of failure are big but if any thesis become successful then chances of exponential returns are equally high.&nbsp;</li><li>Generally I like those startups who are building strong brands or assets/IP as tomorrow atleast there is an opportunity for bigger players to acquire them and there is an opportunity for investor to recover partial investment&nbsp;</li></ul>5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor<ul><li>Don’t see start up investment as a quick return asset class. Keep a passion and back your thesis or idea or promoters.</li><li>Don’t invest in any startups as big fish are investing. Do your own research. Meet promoters, understand their view point, check financials, make few cold calls in the market to check their product or customer services etc and then take a decision.</li><li>Don’t put all egg into one basket. Look startup as one of the asset class and diversify between different startup in the different industry and also at different stages of their life cycle</li><li>Review MIS of each startups and attend review call atleast half yearly. Ask for their audited financials every year</li><li>If you are getting an exit then atleast make a partial exist. Don’t be too greedy.</li></ul>6. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globallyEV, Renewable Energy, Fintech, AI/ML and AR and VR, Data Analytics, Space tourism and Defence, Edutech and Medical tech.&nbsp;&nbsp;7. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.<ul><li>Rome was not built overnight. Back your idea and keep some patience before your business start growing.</li><li>Don’t run after top line only. Finally, it will be the bottom line which matter. You just can’t burning cash forever as beyond a point your business will become unsustainable&nbsp;</li><li>Have a strong management team. In fact have ESOP pool is must in any startup</li><li>Have a strong investors on board, who can back your idea with more capital if required.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Have a strong corporate governance and very clear and correct communications with your investors.&nbsp;</li></ul>8. How do you support your portfolio companiesMy expertise is EXIM Logistics. Generally I do connect with promoter in case they need any assistance for any logistics matter whether in India or overseas.&nbsp;9. Which of your portfolio company you are very excited about and why<ul><li>Bluesmart – this is one of my favourite as they are indeed solving a big pain of Indian cab industry and that too with EV.&nbsp;</li><li>Tyke – I invested in Tyke in seed funding round. I see a very good potential for this company&nbsp;</li><li>Coffeemug – A very scalable business model addressing pain areas for CXO search for big corporates&nbsp;</li></ul>10. When you started your career what were your ambitionsDream big, Enjoy your work and when you see yourself into mirror then you should get a smile with confidence. Bottom line follow your passion and remain grounded.&nbsp;11. What inspires you in life and what keeps you awake at night- My inspiration is my family. What keeps me awake is my dream to grow my business, globally and also to see my children getting best education including investing in their character building.&nbsp;12. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs- Rich Dad, Poor Dad- Atomic Habits- Bhagavad Gita- Zero to One- The Inevitable- Attitude is everything&nbsp;- Five people you meet in heaven- The power of your subconscious mind- MK Gandhi, The story of my experiments with truth &nbsp;

Supal Shah, CEO at Arcon Container, shares his responses about his journey in the Venture Capital ecosystem.