Gujarat Government has been putting in rigorous efforts in uplifting the startup ecosystem in the State.

Different schemes have been introduced for boosting the startups ecosystem of Gujarat. Industries Commissionerate's major Startup Support Scheme provides Seed Funding support of upto 40 Lac. There are 38+ Nodal Institutions under the umbrella of Industries Commissionerate, all of them promote startups in different unexplored regions of Gujarat. Antrapreneur has been exploring the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Gujarat since 2013, as per our observation, post utilization of seed grant, startups are vivacious to raise the next round of funding,i.e., Angel Investment. 

Angel Investment has been gearing up in India, and Gujarat being the pioneer in the segment of entrepreneurship, has an immense potential considering the financial reputation of Stalwart HNIs.

 Speed Dating Session 

The speed dating session went long for 70-80 mins. Every nano second seemed precious for both the stakeholders (investor-startup). The session ballroom reminded us of the old school stock market but the one with discipline. With 115 investors/HNIs and 18 startups, the view and feel was magnificent. 

The Investors were requested to fill in a 'Preference Sheet' which helped us analyse and interpret the majority investors' interests. This interpretation helped us to shortlist 5 startups for a general (one to many) pitch.

Startups shortlisted for general pitching as per majority investors' interests: 

●       Homversity

●       NewsReach

●       Pneucons

●       Univia Agri Tech

●       Payzello

Furthermore, we also did tally the investors who wanted to meet different startups in the deal room and we facilitated the meetings post the general pitching sessions was over. Few meetings and collaborations were also discussed and would be taken ahead as per mutual convenience of both startups and investors.