August 2015 Woman At Work Digital

STARTUP SMART
FUNDING YOUR DREAMS
BY NEETU RALHAN
The Indian startup ecosystem is growing at a
scorching pace. According to data compiled
by YourStory, In the first half of this year, Indian
startups have raised $3.5B funding and the
number of deals in Q2 2015 has increased by
50% from the previous quarter. Another online
report indicates that close to
90 Indian startups raised
funds from various sources
in June 2015 alone.
In spite of the
encouraging aggregate
numbers, only a fraction
of this capital has been
allocated to women-led
ventures. The Dell Women’s
Global Entrepreneurship Study that surveyed
women entrepreneurs across India, the
U.S. and the U.K. found that securing funds
remains a challenge for a majority of women
entrepreneurs across these geographies. While
Indian women startup entrepreneurs cited angel
investment as the easiest source of funding,
personal savings and informal loans from friends
and family were seen as the main source of
startup capital for those interviewed.
“…The difference between funding issues
between them and male entrepreneurs is
that they have issues even in approaching for
funding,” observed Dell’s Chief Marketing
Officer Karen Quintos.
“The difference
between funding issues
between them and male
entrepreneurs is that
they have issues even in
approaching for funding”
“I have seen it’s more our mindset that holds
us women back than the lack of opportunities.
Indeed funding is not gender-specific and
investors are not looking for only male-founded
startups. It’s just that women have a tendency
to underestimate themselves, and thus end
up restricting their own
potential”, says Bhawna
Agarwal, award-winning
Serial Entrepreneur, Startup
Mentor, and CEO, Luxury
Retail Services Pvt. Ltd.
Bhawna has been very
active in the Indian startup
ecosystem for over sixteen
years and is an Advisory
Board Member to a number
of ventures.
So where does someone get funding from?
There are multiple funding avenues available
to startups today and many small and mediumsized
businesses are thriving on these.
VENTURE CAPITAL is one of the most
media glorified sources of funding. A venture
capitalist or VC is a professional investor
(individual or firm) who puts money in a
startup as a business investment and seeks
substantial returns on investment, along with
key involvement in strategic planning. Because
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