Venture Catalysts launches Kolkata edition at startup conclave

Venture Catalysts has announced its formal launch in Kolkata, the incubation platform has tied up with Ideal Insurance and Kreative Fingers for its expansion in the City of Joy. Through this partnership, VCats is looking to boost innovation among the startups in the region by providing state-of the-art support facilities which is part of their long-term objective of fostering entrepreneurship across the country. They are hoping to do so by enabling a robust and interconnected pan-India support network with presence in tier 2 cities in addition to the metros.

Vcats’ launch took place at a startup conclave in West Bengal, attended by over 250 investors and other prominent names from the startup ecosystem in India. Some of the names in attendance were Raghu Ram (Monozygotics), Dr. A Velumani (Founder & Managing Director – Thyrocare), Digvijay Singh (IAN), Shailesh Vikram Singh (Seedfund) and Naiyya Saggi (Babychakra) – in addition to Venture Catalysts’ own members.




Speaking on the launch of the Kolkata chapter, Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Cofounder & President, Venture Catalysts, said, “Conventionally associated with bureaucracy and the service-sector, the rising entrepreneurial spirit in the City of Joy, punctuated by successful start-up stories such as Wow Momos and Fusion Charts, is great news for the Indian start-up ecosphere. Venture Catalysts wants to play a leading role in supporting such a change by nurturing the culture of socially-driven entrepreneurship which distinguishes the launch of our operations in Kolkata.   With an ideal amalgamation of intellect, vision and aesthetic sensibilities, Kolkata has every ingredient in the book required to emerge as an ideal start-up destination. We are looking for disruptive and socially productive business ideas out of this iconic city.”

Sharing his thoughts on Kolkata as a hub for startups and entrepreneurship, Rahul Agarwal, Founder, Ideal Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. And Managing Partner – VCats Kolkata, said, “Although Kolkata currently has some catching up to do with other metros such as New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore in terms of the number of start-ups as well as total investment volumes, the entrepreneurial outlook in the region is extremely positive.”

(L-R) Pankaj Maloo, Dr. A. Velumani, Mr. Rahul Aggarwal

Themed ‘Tier-2 Disruption Decoded’, VCats’ Kolkata start-up conclave began with inaugural addresses by Rahul Agarwal and Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, as well as a keynote speech by Dr. A Velumani. This was followed by two other interesting panel discussions, ‘Angel investment & its opportunities’ and ‘What, how and why: challenges and opportunities’. Raghu Ram of Roadies fame then took centre stage, talking about their journey from showrunners of the most popular reality shows in India to investors and entrepreneurs in an address titled ‘Roadies to Dropouts: The Journey of Monozygotics’. Dr. A Velumani once again graced the podium to discuss the inspiring journey of Thryocare, with the event closing with a thank you note by Pankaj Maloo.