 "Ashok Reddy: Fund-raising is key to fueling growth")
When the business model clings to its peak of revenue streams to scale and to sustain a constant growth, 'fund raising' becomes a high priority task. It's an ideal topic to surmise, particularly now, as we at GrabOn, are entering the uber-crucial 'fund raising' phase. Start-ups need adequate capital to fuel their growth engine, to cater to the market and innovate continuously to better solve customer problems.
It is also the perfect time for any start-up to raise investments— given you have a good team, a great product and an unbeatable business model. Looking at the pace at which our internet users are growing in a large growing consumer market, a valuable start-up is likely to attract investment from angel investors and VCs.
India is optimally poised for start-up fund-raising. The conversion rates in funding here is much faster when compared with raising funds for our start-up in the US, which is going through a Series A crunch (a phenomenal number of start-ups are failing to cross the chasm and raise Series A after successfully securing an initial angel round). India will take a few more years before we face such a situation. Right now, we strongly believe that there is tremendous scope for new start-ups in the wide, open untapped spaces of the market to create products of value, to innovate and to contribute.
GrabOn is a profitable company already, but we want to spread our wings into other related markets and channels in the same space. Our growth rate and numbers are compelling enough that we think we have a huge potential to grow even further in this space. We strongly believe that the team, product and business models are equally strong to step up to the next level resulting in choosing the right investment partner.
It's just not about raising money, it's also about choosing the right investment partner. With the foresight of scaling our growth and with the right VC backing, we can move ahead with fortitude and prudence to conquer a bigger chunk of a large pie.
Ashok Reddy is founder and chief executive officer of GrabOn, an online coupons and deals firm.