Listen: Anuj Golecha on why it’s business as usual at Venture Catalysts amidst the lockdown

While the Covid-19 pandemic has been a dampener for the startup ecosystem in the country, integrated incubator platform Venture Catalysts has managed to keep the dealmaking momentum going. Since the imposition of the national lockdown, the firm has announced investments across sectors in edtech platform Qin1, health supplements company Power Gummies and insurance dispute redressal platform Insurance Samadhan.

According to co-founder Anuj Golecha, investment activity is back after an initial lull and lack of clarity among investors whether to go ahead with risk investment in early stage companies. 

“We have seen increased engagement with angels and family offices on our platforms,” says Golecha adding that it was common practice for its portfolio managers to catch up with investee companies online and the current scenario has had little impact on operations.

However, the nature of companies garnering investor interest has changed to digital business models, reflective of the current times. He added that close to 85% of the platform’s portfolio has not been impacted by the slowdown in business as they start by raising enough capital for 18-24 months.

The platform, which has a presence across 22 cities in India and five cities overseas, has created a pipeline of onboarding 12 new cities by May 16.

Founded in 2015, Venture Catalysts invests between $250,000 and $1.5 million in early stage startups apart from offering platform services including business mentoring, network and other benefits. The platform invests in upto five startups every month.