ISB, TiE to facilitate funding for entrepreneurs

Event to be organised on July 28

The Indian School of Business (ISB) in association with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) - a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, established to foster entrepreneurship - will be organising an annual event on July 28 from this year onwards to facilitate early-stage funding for upcoming entrepreneurs.

Called TiE-ISB Connect 2005, this is the first-of-its-kind event in the country, which is being organised by a B-School.

This apart, it will also be the first time that the Pearl City will host such an event for early-stage or angel funding. On a nationwide basis too, events like these are usually held for second or third stage funding and seldom for early-stage.

Besides, it will also be the debut event of this kind for the Hyderabad-chapter of TiE. Though last year, TiE had arranged a similar interactive platform for venture capitalists (VC) and entrepreneurs, it was organised by TiE Global and was not restricted to Hyderabad.

"The purpose of this event is to offer a common platform for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to interact and build successful enterprises," V Chandrasekar, executive director, Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development at ISB, said.

Venture capitalists from across the globe like Larry Mcdonald (Nordic Ventures), Rahul Vaid (Pacesetter Capital), Raj Gollamudi (BlueStream Ventures), Achal Ghai (Avigo Corporation) and Kumar Shiralagi (Intel Capital - south Asia) will be participating in the one-day event.

Around 500 participants are expected for the event out of which 10 business plans are likely to be shortlisted. "About 80 per cent of the shortlisted plans are expected to be funded," Chandrasekar said.

According to J A Chowdary, president, TiE Hyderabad, the focus this year will be on sectors like IT, BT and pharma. "A large number of participants for this national event is expected to be from Hyderabad and therefore, the focus on these sectors," he added.

Besides informative sessions on the state of VC funding in India and the process of getting funding for an idea, the event will also have an 'Elevator Pitch' wherein about 20 entrepreneurs will be selected to pitch their ideas for three minutes before the VCs, academics and other participants.

The event will also provide a platform for individuals to offer angel funding to the entrepreneurs.

The participation fee for the event is Rs 500.