<div>The <strong>Scaale Group</strong>, a Venture Resource Ecosystem, is spreading its wings in India. Based in San Francisco, it works with over 150 venture capital funds to find startups that can make an impact in areas such as but not limited to education, healthcare, SaaS, big data, travel, food tech and more . Scaale’s investment club called Cross Border Angels has already invested in a Hyderabad incubated company, Jay Robotix, for an undisclosed sum. It has also invested in seven companies, across the world, with an average angel round of $200,000. The group’s founder, <strong>Kaushal Chokshi</strong>, says that India has enough ideas that could be funded and taken global. However, talking to <strong>BW|Businessworld's Vishal Krishna</strong> he feels a policy framework, for startups, is the need of the hour for India to become a powerhouse of entrepreneurship. Here are the excerpts of the interview.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Where is funding headed, is there some reality today that there could be a bubble?</strong></div><div>I think the motivation comes from exits. Thousands of people get excited about it and the exit rates are so high that there are so many entrepreneurs who want to start businesses. Yes the best ideas get funded; the bubble hype is the valuation itself. It is not the quality of ideas. It is a business model that everyone is betting on and it is fine. This is how entrepreneurs are made. It is just the beginning of some good things to happen in India because of private capital. The bubble itself is a process. It is a necessity to find the best ideas. I agree there is very high valuation today but it is not a bubble that will stop investments from happening. I think any innovation around the world has gone up because of immigrants. The case in point is India. There are so many Indian companies going abroad. So, such entrepreneurs need Angels that can fund companies going global. These companies have implications to change society and we need to de-risk their presence or focus from the Indian market. There is better exposure if one goes global and the best practices can be implemented on a global scale. It makes exits all the more easier. </div><div> </div><div><strong>What markets are your favourites?</strong></div><div>USA, Spain, England and India are growing in terms of entrepreneurs. Even Estonia has startups; it is tremendous. I have met several companies in the product software and hardware side there. If they can do it, why can’t India? India needs to make it easier for startups from a tax and listing perspective. One of our startups, Jay-Robotix, has gone to Singapore. They started out of Hyderabad. The city state is wise at picking companies that can keep them ahead in the future. Robotics is such a good bet. The current Indian government is very serious about entrepreneurship and wants to help such companies. Let us what comes from policy to foster growth of startups in the next four years.</div><div> </div><div><strong>What do you think India should do?</strong></div><div>Tax incentives, for investors and entrepreneurs, are a must. We need to define the best practices for a nation of entrepreneurs. Today we do not have a framework and this why intellectual property goes abroad. The state governments should also look at this in their budgets very seriously. To be honest, job creation happens from startups. It is a compelling story to change society. Technology innovation today is getting people get noticed and people around 30 years of age have a career goal of changing society with their idea. Such businesses command transparency and, today, people are saying that they can go achieve things. This is a change in India. You no longer need contacts to grow; it is a culture of meritocracy. I must also add that education can aide this growth. People of all ages should be given the opportunity to learn. Age is no longer a barrier. To be honest, city states can run things much better than large nation states.</div><div> </div><div><strong>How much of our entrepreneur pool is stuck in investment jargon?</strong></div><div>Yes people spoke about cloud, mobility, big data services three years ago; now they call it SMAC, which is social, mobile, analytics and cloud. These are just terms. But what is the difference between research and innovation. Research is about spending money to drive innovation. Innovation is using an idea to triple bottom lines of a business. We are looking for innovation. I do not look for Unicorns, as they call it. I want people who can change lives. We like companies with technology intervention in Health care, security and education. Technology for future cities is also very interesting. We need to look at how Singapore, Hong Kong, Estonia and Kosovo are fostering growth for entrepreneurs. With the Indian government starting a smart city called Gujarat International Financial Tec-City it is a great move to set up a financial centre for financial tech startups. We are already aligned with that program. This is the intention that we are talking about. So India has to seize this. Look at it this way, that startups are creating a cashless economy and Indian banks should embrace these companies. Today Aadhar, which has such great technology and data, has opened up its APIs to build applications. Imagine the applications that can use data to change lives. Social impact is very important for India. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Will legacy companies open up to change?</strong></div><div>Take the example of ZipCar which got sold out for $450 million. This disrupted the car industry. Nobody has to own a car anymore. Most exits around the world are corporate buy outs and are all under $30 million. Legacy companies are the ones who are running accelerator programmes. Startup companies can get bought within two years. This is another area which will see major growth in the coming year.</div><div> </div>
