Last 2 days for Ahmedabad Investment Forum; focus on entrepreneur stories, fireside chats & keynotes

The 2nd edition of VCCircle's Ahmedabad Investment Forum will feature the best of Gujarat Inc., comprising CEOs of Gujarat's top and emerging companies, highly successful entrepreneurs and the biggest investors across the country. The event will be held on Nov 29 at The Pride Hotel, Ahmedabad.

One of the fastest growing industrial cities in India, Ahmedabad has played a crucial role in integrating entrepreneurs, investors and deal-makers. In tune with this trend, the VCCircle forum will bring together a wide array of participants – from large companies to exciting early-stage startups to private equity & venture capital investors.

The full-day summit will kick-start with a keynote by Piruz Khambatta, chairman & MD of Rasna. Rasna, one of the most successful local entrepreneurial stories, was launched as a brand in the mid-70s, but started gaining popularity in the 80s when the market was dominated by carbonated soft drinks like Thums up, Gold Spot and Limca.

The following fireside chats and panels will cover key areas such as the leading sectors for entrepreneurship in Gujarat, and what it takes to raise private equity, venture capital and angel funding. Two special 'entrepreneur sessions' – one with Amit Bakshi, CEO of Eris Lifesciences, and the other with Vishal Mehta, CEO of Infibeam, will highlight their entrepreneurial journey with key insights into how they scaled up, overcame challenges and built their businesses.

Here is a preview of the full-day agenda and what the forum has in store for you:

Agenda

8:30 am – 9:35 am Tea & Registration

9:35 am – 9:45 am Introduction Note

9:45 am – 10:15 am Keynote Address: Building Global Companies From India: Insights On Scaling Up & Business Transformation Piruz Khambatta, CEO, Rasna Pvt. Ltd

10:15 am – 11:00 am Fireside Chat: The Gujarati Entrepreneurial DNA & What It Means For Deal-making Market What are the characteristics that define Gujarat entrepreneurs and their businesses? Which sectors would witness a slew of entrepreneurial activities and where is the Gujarat entrepreneur ecosystem headed? What is Gujarat's potential for more of large marquee private equity and M&A deals? How is the state's ecosystem absorbing new-age businesses? Will capital flow towards family-owned businesses or first-generation entrepreneurs?

Vishal Mehta – CEO, Infibeam (Moderator) Mihir Joshi – MD, Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd Asit Shah – MD, Metro Wireless Engineering India Pvt Ltd Rajiv Sharma – CEO, Sterling Addlife India Ltd Prof BH Jajoo – Former Dean, IIM-Ahmedabad

11:00 am – 11:15 am Tea & Networking

11:15 am – 11:45 am Tax & Regulatory Structuring From The Perspective Of An Entrepreneur & Investor Vishal Gada – Director, Tax and Regulatory, KPMG Punit Shah – Partner and Co-Head, Tax, KPMG

11:45 am – 12:15 pm Entrepreneur Interview Amit Bakshi, MD of Eris Lifesciences, will be interviewed on the company's inception, early days & business model, significant milestones, how it raised private equity funding and scaled up, growth path and projections.

Shrija Agrawal – Associate Editor, VCCircle & Techcircle (Interviewer)

12:15 pm – 1:00 pm Fireside Chat: Raising Private Equity & Syndicating M&A For Your Company How do you raise capital from private equity funds? What do funds look for in a business model? What is preferred – revenue projections or real cash flow? How should companies prepare themselves to attract PE? Apart from money, what other input & value additions do private equity managers bring to the table? When is a company ready for a bulge-bracket acquisition or to be acquired? How do acquirers and acquisition targets find the right candidate? How to raise finances? How to tackle integration challenges?

Ashwani Khare – Partner, Corporate Finance, KPMG (Moderator) Abhay Pandey – MD, Sequoia Capital India Mahesh Chhabria – Partner, Actis Dhanpal Jhaveri – Partner & CEO, Everstone Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Lunch & networking

1:00 pm – 1:45 pm VCCircle Lounge A special VCCircle initiative where companies and investors can meet and network in a structured manner in a separate enclosure. Here, select companies will make a 5-minute elevator pitch to select venture capital investors.

2:00 pm – 2:45 pm Fireside Chat: Raising Venture Capital & Angel Funding For Your Startup How to get VC and angel funding for your startup? What are the dos & don'ts before approaching an angel or a seed-stage investor? How much of the stake should an entrepreneur dissolve while raising early funding? How does the region fare in terms of successful investments?

Shrija Agrawal – Associate Editor, VCCircle & Techcircle (Moderator) Rehan Yar Khan – Founder & CEO, Flora2000 Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network

2:45 pm – 3:15 pm Understanding Legal Aspects Involved In Debt & Equity Fund Raising For Companies Rajendra Barot – Senior Partner, AZB & Partners Varoon Chandra – Partner, AZB & Partners

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Tea & Networking

3:30 pm – 4:15 pm Panel: Emerging Startup Entrepreneurship Themes In Gujarat The panel will focus on the emerging entrepreneurship themes in the Gujarat startups segment. What are the opportunities to scale in internet sub-sectors, Big Data, healthcare, education and mobile industries? What will the venture capital investors bet on?

Rajan Vasa – MD, Contech BPO & President, TiE Ahmedabad (Moderator) Sanjay Singh – Founder, Swas Healthcare Leo S. Mavely – CEO, Axio Biosolutions Pvt Ltd Prayaag Kasundra – Founder & CEO, BookAdSpace.com

4:15 pm – 4:35 pm Entrepreneur Story Vishal Mehta, CEO of Infibeam, will share all about the firm's inception, early days & business model, significant milestones, how it raised private equity funding and scaled, growth path and projections.

4:35 pm – 4:45 pm Concluding Remarks

Be a part of the forum to meet the top and emerging Gujarat entrepreneurs who will create the next big businesses in India. For more details, please click here or write to us atregister@vccircle.com or contact Sandeep at 0120-4171111.