Starting Your Own VC Fund

Starting Your Own VC Fund 

Starting Your Own VC Fund

What value do you add to startups?

Recent news that VT Bharadwaj, a managing director at the India branch of Sequoia Capital, has quit the firm. This is about a year after Gautam Mago left Sequoia. Bharadwaj is likely to launch an independent VC fund.

VC fund executives are setting up their own funds for Indian startups which is great for the startup ecosystem. But are VC funds getting more specialised in the sectors they invest in or is it just that the VCs want more freedom to be able to take their own call on what startups they invest in? Also, with the proliferation of funds, the VC’s hunt for Limited Partners is getting harder.

With big funds like Sequoia and Softbank creating funds in the US$Billions and disruption from Crowdsourcing and ICOs, VCs are having to try harder to prove what value they can add to their potential investees, and to their Limited Partners also.

Some commentators are saying that with the proliferation of ICOs, VCs could become extinct. I think VCs still have a role to play in the startup ecosystem and can add value to their investees and are not going away anytime soon. VCs don’t only provide the money, they also come with their contacts and this can be more valuable to the startup than just the funds. VCs sometimes act as middlemen for startups to get the money and team together to scale up.

More VC funds in India’s startup ecosystem is always welcome but which way is the VC industry headed?

DigitalAsian