Seventeen Advisors in Residence join VentureNursery

VentureNursery, India’s first angel-backed start-up accelerator today announced that seventeen Advisors have joined its Advisors-in-Residence program.The Advisors in Residence program is an anchor element of VentureNursery’s value proposition and gives participating start-ups an opportunity to learn from proven strategic and execution experience of senior corporate managers, serial entrepreneurs, venture capital executives and technologists.

Ravi Kiran, Co-founder, VentureNursery said “We went for quality instead of numbers while choosing advisors. I am really happy that we have got a truly powerful group of experienced professionals and entrepreneurs, representing diverse domains and functional specializations.”

Shravan Shroff, Co-founder, VentureNursery added “All of our Advisors are experts in their respective fields. They are truly committed to mentoring young companies and giving them an opportunity to interact with them and go through the viability of their current strategy. We value their support to participating start-ups and in helpingIndia’s start-up ecosystem.”

The Advisors in Residence, in alphabetical order, are:

1. Mr. Abhijeet Mazumdar- Vice President,BessemerVenture Partners
2. Mr. Abhishek Shah-Co founder, Fetise.com and Deals4You.com
3. Mr. Alok Mittal- Managing Director, Canaan Partners,India
4. Mr. Hemir Doshi- Co founder & Managing Director, IDG Ventures
5. Mr. John Kuruvilla- Co founder,Taggle.com and Ex. Chief Revenue Officer, Air Deccan
6. Mr. Karthi Kumar Marshan- Chief Marketing Officer, Kotak Group
7. Mr. Lloyd Mathias-Director, GreenBean Ventures and Former CMO of Tata Teleservices & Motorola
8. Ms. Monica Doshi- Co founder,Themis Consult and Managing Director, Leadership Management India
9. Mr. Nibhrant Shah- Cofounder, Themis Consult
10. Mr. Paritosh Joshi- Ex. CEO, Star CJ Network
11. Mr. Pushkar Sane- Co founder& CEO, Convergination Ventures
12. Mr.Sanjiv Kataria- Ex. Group Vice President, NIIT and Managing Partner,Strategic Communications and PR Counsel
13. Mr. Sumeet Maniar-Co founder, K2 Networks and Gamiana
14. Mr. Vikas Kumar-Co founder, Brain Visa
15. Mr. Vinayak Nath- Co founder, NATCO Solutions
16. Mr. Vishal Golia-Co founder, Gamiana and Maharaja Games
17. Mr. Vishal Gondal- Founder, Indiagames

VentureNursery’s first batch of startups is currently under acceleration and is likely to graduate in first week of September, 2012.

This is what some of the Advisors-in-Residence feel about the program:

Mr. Abhijeet Mazumdar, Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners

“It was about high time that we had a startup ecosystem. I am excited to be a part of this and work closely with startups in building high quality companies. I look forward to bringing our expertise from the west which will hopefully be beneficial to the young entrepreneurs. Shravan andRavihave been veterans in building large businesses and VentureNursery Accelerator Program is a great platform wherein they can share their experiences with young entrepreneurs.”

Mr. Alok Mittal, Managing Director, Canaan Partners, India

“VentureNursery brings a wealth of experience and industry connections to budding startups. I am confident that these resources will help the startups both strategically and operationally.”

Mr. John Kuruvilla, Former Chief Revenue Officer, Air Deccan and Co-founder,Taggle.com

“Venture Nursery will provide much needed Mentorship to the spirit of Entrepreneurship thatIndiais known for. I believe entrepreneurs need more than just money. They need experience to learn from to shorten their learning curve, avoid pitfalls and accelerate their growth through mentorship and a support system that will guide them through choppy waters.

In theUS there are organisations like Y Combinator, Tech Stars, Seed camp and many more. I believe VentureNursery will help Start-ups get a better shot at success. It’s a pleasure for me to be able to work with people like Ravi, Shravan and others to create a successful entrepreneurial eco system inIndia.”

Mr. Lloyd Mathias-Director, GreenBean Ventures and Former CMO of Tata Teleservices & Motorola

“I think the Venture Nursery Accelerator Program is a great way for startups to get their concepts vetted by experienced professionals – and I’m delighted to be part of this exercise. For me this is a great way to understand the challenges of new businesses and also apply some of my experience to address these issues. What’s more, interacting with young entrepreneurs helps me sharpen my skills.”

Mr. Paritosh Joshi, Ex. CEO, Star CJ Network

“Raviand Shravan must be commended for the wonderful idea that is VentureNursery. Energetic and enthusiastic youngsters with compelling business ideas are thwarted in their entrepreneurship by poor planning, insufficient guidance, paucity of resources and flawed execution. This initiative takes these fledgling businesses by the hand and provides all the missing pieces that might otherwise jeopardise them before they have a fair crack at success. My brief meeting with the talented youngsters behind one of the VN startups was evidence of the endless potential for good work that VentureNursery promises".

Mr. Pushkar Sane, Co-Founder & CEO, Convergination Ventures

“Acceleration is a critical component of today’s business environment. Venture Nursery has created a very interesting model where angels, advisors and executives work together to provide much needed acceleration to entrepreneurs and their ideas. I’m delighted to get associated with this great initiative where I will get an opportunity work alongside some of the best minds in India.