VentureFund sets up global platform to connect startups, mentors & angel investors

VentureFund, an online mentoring and funding platform, has launched a global platform to help startups and innovators connect with mentors and investors.

According to VentureFund, it already has over $150 million committed by angel investors from all over the globe. Although its website pegs it at $93.6 million, our phone conversation with Vice-chairman Paul Shoker revealed that the site is yet to make that update. "We have also received over 200 business plans while more than 50 investors expressed their interest within a couple of hours of the launch," he added.

The founding team includes Lord Alli (co-founder and chairman of Asos), Ashok Mathai Kurien (founder and promoter of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Sun TV and Playwin), Rajan Anandan (Google India MD and an active angel investor), Rikky Shoker (relationship manager at Credo Capital), Paul Shoker (CEO at BenefitsPLUS) and Jason Shoker.

"The primary objective of VentureFund is to educate, mentor and help fund high quality startups by connecting entrepreneurs of early-stage startups to qualified investors from around the world," said Paul Shoker.

VentureFund is sector agnostic and invites ideas from across the verticals like e-commerce, Web-based services, games & apps, healthcare, energy, green industry, film project and more.

Several features have also been introduced to make this online platform interactive. It helps startups create investor proposals online and get mentoring services, as well as investor enquiries. It also keeps investors up-to-date with deal flow and enables them to co-invest with others, if required.

"We wanted to create a platform for both entrepreneurs and investors. The response we have from them clearly demonstrates that we are working towards this and helping the startups get their ideas off ground," said Ashok Kurien.