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If you are running a startup in India, chances are high that funding gives you maximum headache. To launch a dream product or service, entrepreneurs have to go through a seemingly endless rigmarole of meetings and cost analyses before they can get that check in their hands. A new funding process is now available that promises to ease the processes of funding and open the door to a global forum for its members.

Go global
GrowVC (Grow Venture Community) is a global online platform providing seed-funding to startups since its inception this February. Partnered and launched in India by Springboard Ventures Pvt. Ltd., the brainchild of Satish Kataria, MD, and Saurabh Agarwal, Director, GrowVC is bringing about a radical change in the methods of securing funding.

How it works
In this new model of funding, access is gained by subscription to full-featured global services. Registration to the site is free while the usage of various services is subscription-based. The subscription fees vary by profile, role, level and payment schedule, starting from Rs.900 per month. The GrowVC community gets 75 percent of the funds, while 25 percent is used to cover the costs of running the service. Subscribed members make all the selections as to what startups the community fund will invest in. The investments are owned and managed by the company directly or via partners or agreed members.

When startups fail, there is no return on investment. If there is no ROI in such a scenario, the community fund covers its own losses. However, when startups generate ROI, this is divided between the company members and the top-ranked members, who get 75 percent as commissions. The startups which manage to close 110 percent of their funding targets (direct and allocation) are then closed.

On this global platform, startups can access a host of national and international investors, experts and mentors. Investors can also benefit from GrowVC by getting access to a continuous deal flow, irrespective of geographical or sector limitations. They can access detailed term sheets, have the liberty to contact startups as well as select and invite a host of experts to manage investments on their behalf.

Plans and propositions
Founded in February this year by a group of global equity and finance experts, GrowVC has ambitious plans. “We want to democratize funding and support for startups,” claims Jouko Ahvenainen, Founder & Chairman, GrowVC. He is an investor and entrepreneur across the U.S., Europe and Asia, with more than 15 years experience in international business management. Ahvenainen believes that Web 2.0 will significantly change all business, and finance cannot avoid that change. “Now is the time to create new open models to accelerate early-phase company funding,” adds the certified advisor for NasdaqOMX Stockholm and Helsinki early-phase company lists.

Adds Valto Loikkanen, Founder & CEO, GrowVC, a serial entrepreneur who has started several companies across Europe and the U.S. in the web and mobile fields: “Web 2.0 companies often need only small amounts of money to grow, due to the cost-effective nature of their business models, and the investment market hasn’t historically been suited to raising small amounts of capital.

GrowVC applies the principles of Web 2.0 to the area that’s historically been shrouded in mystery—VC funding. I want to bring a better and fairer environment for technology startups seeking funding.”

Small share of the pie
The figures, too, speak for themselves. In the U.S., more than 350,000 angels invest around Rs.27,000 crore in about 50,000 fresh business ideas every year, claims the U.S. National Venture Capital Association. However, out of the estimated Rs.9,144 crore that was invested by the VC/PE fraternity in India between January 1-June 12 this year, only about one percent was invested in early-stage deals.

GrowVC and Springboard Ventures feel that so far only startups in the domain of technology and IT have found some support, and it is only recently that other sectors (like social enterprises, clean tech and retail) are coming under the spotlight. “The scope for a global platform like ours is, therefore, immense. We are like the eBay of startups, waiting to empower both funders and founders of companies. We also offer a host of other services in areas like marketing, finance, legal, HR, operations and international relations, which aim to make the journey an easier one for the entrepreneurs,” says Kataria.

Next: How GrowVC Works ->>>

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funding, GrowVC, Jouko Ahvenainen, online platform, Satish Kataria, Saurabh Agarwal, Springboard Ventures, startup, startups, Valto Loikkanen, VC