Nowadays, people have become more favorable to start their venture. For startups seeking growth, there are VCs, IPOs, and Angel Investors that can fund their businesses. Some platforms help them connect with the right investors, giving their startups the much-needed support. Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) is one of the platforms and whenever the investors find themselves in any business problem, such platforms become a source of solution and inspiration.
Along came Startup India, an important initiative by the Government of India, to build a strong environment beneficial to the growth of startups and to empower them through innovation and design. COVID-19 has not only disrupted the fundamentals of innumerable startups but also
forced many to doubt their existence. However, with platforms like IPV which were developed as a digital-first organization and focused on developing start-ups, it seems business as usual.
IPV has been closely monitoring the situation with its funded startups. Additionally, the strategy is to identify sectors and startups that have the potential to grow, e.g., ed tech, online grocery deliveries, e-gaming, media, entertainment, etc. IPV has invested close to Rs 100 crore in the last 18 months across 35 companies. As the funding has decreased in the startup ecosystem, IPV has invested over Rs 20 crore in the last 45 days. IPV has been driven in dealing with angel investors and in providing investor education and building investor confidence towards startup investing as an alternate asset class. More than 200 investors have done their initial angel investment through the IPV platform.
In the startup world, the pandemic has brought to front more innovation in Crisis management and digitization fields. Extensive work from home is the new normal, virtual meetings have become part of businesses. Gaming, streaming, and online education, content providers are all announcing a significant increase in users and time spent on their platforms.
IPV has invested 20 crores in five startups – Pedagogy (ed-tech), Phable (health-tech), Toch (media-tech), Milk basket (online grocery), and Fab Box (F&B – healthy snacking) and will also be investing 10-12 crore in six startups soon. In less than 18 months, IPV has more than 1,000 actively engaged investors on their plan of action, making them one of the largest angel networks in the country. IPV is additionally supporting several leading engineering and MBA institutions run by alumni investment networks and consequently building a robust ecosystem of quality startups, informed investors, strong due-diligence processes, and best investment practices. By investing in startups now IPV is giving liquidity for the next 12-18 months where the investors get a chance to build strong businesses in a cost-controlled environment.
