Aiming to bring the roots of the growing Indian startup ecosystem to its tier-2 and tier-3 cities, seed investment and innovation platform Venture Catalysts (VCats) have now launched its services in the city of Surat. The expansion will enable ventures and investors from Surat and nearby locales the access to Venture Catalysts’ proprietary start-up enablement platform.
Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder, Venture Catalysts, said, “Our launch in the city of Surat, widely regarded as a local business hub, is meant to further that aim by extending our services to the region’s start-ups and entrepreneurs.”
“We are confident that we will be able to nurture a start-up centric culture within Surat and its surrounding areas by enabling greater access to investments and other high-quality start-up support facilities such as business networking, incubation services, events/workshops and pitch days,“ he added.
VCats will also be providing services like mentoring, networking, co-working facility and technological expertise to start-ups in addition to enabling investments through its strategic partnerships with leading industry players such as Cox and Kings, HDFCBank, Plug and Play etc.
Renowned as the city of businesspersons, Surat is fast emerging as a favourable venue for start-ups owing to its focus on entrepreneurship, said Anuj Golecha, another co-founder, when asked why Surat of all cities was selected.
“The Government of Gujarat has already rolled out several schemes to assist start-ups, our entry into the city will ensure better opportunities of growth and success for both start-ups and investors. We will also be looking at co-investment opportunities and bringing in about 100 investors to be a part of the VCats ANGEL network.”
The short-term goal is to achieve around 20 investments in a year, which will increase as the platform grows in strength and footprint.
Gaurav Singhvi, Managing Partner, Venture Catalysts – Surat, said, “Having enabled over seven investments worth more than $3million in less than six months of its operations, VCats has already established its credentials as the fastest growing early-stage platform in the country. Its co-working space in Mumbai is already operating at 100% occupancy.”
