Venture Catalysts expands to UK, aims to build network of 500 investors by 2020
VCats has teamed up with JPIN, a Euro-Asia focused venture capital fund, to target Europe’s startup ecosystem. Together they aim to develop an investor network to fund early-stage Indian startups.
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Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and President of Venture Catalysts
Integrated incubator Venture Catalysts (VCats) announced it plans to expand to the UK, and has entered into a partnership with JPIN. VCats, together with the Euro-Asia-focused VC, startup mentor, and global advisory, will build an Euro-Asia corridor for Angel investors to invest and nurture early-stage Indian ventures.
London is the third-largest tech hub in the world and may prove to be the ideal ecosystem for VCats to expand its robustly expanding network in a market that has a high concentration of capital, international talent, and innovative business ideas.
Nayan Gala, Managing Partner, JPIN Venture Catalysts, UK, said, “We see the Euro-Asia corridor to be indispensable in providing startup and scale-up collaboration and growth capital across borders. There has been a significant increase in trade between India and the UK in the last few years, currently estimated at £20 billion. We are very excited to partner with VCats to provide the Euro-Asia investor community with vetted startups.”
VCats has developed a detailed blueprint for 2019-20, enlisting its operational objectives to be achieved. In 2019, VCats aims to develop a strong investor network of over 150 members, including HNIs/corporates as well as business families in the UK. It also aims to raise Rs 60 crore to Rs 75 crore for early-stage deals, and will look to increase this amount to over Rs 100 crore for subsequent rounds for promising startups.
In 2020, VCats aims to aggressively expand its investor community network to include more than 500 members. It will also help raise early-stage and follow-up round funding capabilities significantly, in the range of Rs 125 crore to Rs 150 crore for early-stage deals, and Rs 250 crore+ for subsequent rounds.
Also read: India is an exciting market for the next few decades: Rohit Bodas, Propel Venture Partners
Seamless client acquisition
Nayan Gala and Gaurav Singh, Founders, JPIN, will be the Managing Partners of JPIN Venture Catalysts UK, and will oversee the expansion process to ensure seamless client acquisition.
VCats is known for its unique and early access to the most promising startups as well as a robust due diligence process. It invests between $250,000 and $1 million in early-stage startups that have the potential to create enduring value over a long period of time.
JPIN, meanwhile, has been very active in the UK to build a “capital without borders” strategy in the Euro-Asia corridor via its advisory, mentoring, and thought leadership.
Anuj Golecha, Co-founder, Venture Catalysts said: “VCats already has a strong presence in the Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian business communities, and the current expansion to London is aimed at presenting a more comprehensive global presence while catering to the great business environment and opportunities present there. Apart from gaining access to the spirited startup community in London, a big positive for us has been seeing the warm response from the expatriate and Euro-Asian business community here.”
