Key Takeaways From BIGShift Kolkata: Investors And Enablers On The Challenges Of Starting Up
To bolster the fledgeling startup ecosystem that is taking root in this historic city, Inc42 in partnership with Amazon India recently hosted the second instalment of its localised meetup series – BIGShift on October 13 in Kolkata. The event brought prominent startup founders, influencers, investors, and ecosystem enablers together for an engaging and stimulating discourse about the challenges of starting up, the fear of failure and the common notions about fundraising.
For the uninitiated, BIGShift is a one-of-a-kind series of localised startup events spread across eight cities, including Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur, Kolkata, Vizag, Ranchi and Indore. Through BIGShift, Amazon India and Inc42 are looking to support the startup ecosystem that is building up in cities beyond Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The aim is to help bridge the gap that currently exists between the ecosystems in tier I and tier II cities by making the essential resources available to fledgeling startups in these geographies.
So, Why BIGShift In Kolkata?
Spread roughly north-south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata is majorly known for two things – the Howrah Bridge and the only operating tram network in India. The city also has the third most-populous metropolitan area in India.
The walls of the city house within them a budding startup ecosystem with passionate entrepreneurs, great mentors, and a supportive government. According to Angellist, there are over 250 startups in Kolkata and with government facilities and initiatives the startup ecosystem has picked up the pace in the city.
These startups are currently operating in a number of diverse verticals such as edtech, healthtech, the ever-popular ecommerce and foodtech, as Kolkata is famous for its cuisine, among many others. As per Inc42 Datalabs report, between July 2016 and July 2017, there were 19 deals that collectively raised $23.8 Mn in funding.
Among the major startups that the city has nurtured in recent times are Pallav Nadhani-founded Fusion Charts, Abhishek Rungta’s Indus Net Technologies, Taxmantra, Lexulous, La Exacttly, RanceLab and others.
Avelo Roy On Moving Past The Fear Of Failure
he event started off with Avelo Roy, taking the stage. Currently serving as the Managing Director of Kolkata Ventures, Roy has built/invested in seven businesses across three countries, generating $25 Mn worth of products and services.
During the first session of BIGShift Kolkata, Avelo talked aboutidentifying the root cause of failure and eliminating the fear that shrouds failure.
Every entrepreneur at some stage is afraid of failure. However, the mark of a true leader is one who never gives up. At the event, the Illinois Institute of Technology graduate spoke about the need to embrace the technology revolution that is taking the world by a storm.
SastaSundar’s B.L. Mittal On Challenges Of Scaling Up And Fundraising
The session with Avelo was followed by an inspiring and engaging storytelling session with Banwari Lal Mittal, founder and CEO of SastaSundar. Launched in 2013 SastaSundar is an online pharmacy based out of Kolkata. The startup touched GMV of $23.6 Mn in FY 2017.
SastaSundar functions as a digital network for managing healthcare, pharma, and wellness product supply chain. It acts as a channel for connecting doctors, diagnostic services, health care clinics, and health information services. As its name suggests, the startup strives to reduce cost and make the availability of high-quality medicines convenient.
Following are some of the many laurels that Mittal has earned over the years:
- Grew SastaSundar to 1.7 Mn order mark
- Onboarded more than 440K customers
- Created a network of over 178 Healthbuddy stores across the state
- Raised $5 Mn (INR 33.4 Cr) from Japan-based Rohto Pharmaceutical
- Working to open 50 Healthbuddy stores in Delhi by March 2018
- Started three successful ventures over the course of his entrepreneurial career
- Founded InnoGrow Partners with a $154.2 Mn (INR 1,000 Cr) investment corpus
In his narrative, Mittal talked at great length about the process and challenges of scaling up as well as fundraising. During his BIGShift session, Mittal, said, “In whatever you do, find out the uniqueness. What determines the success of a venture is the demand-supply gap. It depends on necessity. You have to be very competitive in execution and delivery. From my experience, the task of starting a business is very easy. Everything that is built is either built to die or built to last. The most important things of starting up are the return of money and the return of time and investment. One needs to realise that failure is basically the other face of success. The key is to eliminate the fear of failure.”
Speaking about the importance of branding and marketing at BIGShift Kolkata, Mittal concluded by stating, “If you want to plant a Mango tree and you plant it in a Mango Orchard, it will take a million attempts to identify it. Why did Amazon choose that name even though it was not related to books? The point is to give your company a name that has uniqueness and a personality of its own. For instance, the value of SastaSundar is quality healthcare at affordable costs. That is why the Indian name associated with it is SastaSundar.”