Pitch Session: Connecting Indian VC / Investors to EU Startups: 23rd April 2021

The Delegation of the European Union to India is excited to share that they are launching an India VC-Investor Connect platform for EU start-ups. This event is being organized in collaboration with Global Business Inroads (GBI), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and Particip. EU startups will have a chance to pitch their innovative solutions virtually on the 23rd April 2021, post which we will be facilitating one-on-one discussion between the start-ups and the VCs who would like to have deeper discussions and explore investment potential.

The start-ups will be curated based on the investment criteria of the Indian investors such as:
• Technology-based startups
• Large addressable market
• Need to have an MVP with a USP
• Have existing customers
• Strong founders/team
• The scalable and capital-efficient business model
• Ticket size: Angel/Seed Stage and Series A (Euro 50K – 2mil)

Why should EU start-up apply to pitch:
Indian investors and corporate VCs are investing internationally and scouting for innovative technologies abroad as indicated by the upward trend in FDI, with more than 2200 Indian companies expected to invest abroad in the next 15 years. Outbound investment from India has undergone a considerable change, not only in terms of magnitude but also in terms of geographical spread and sectoral composition. In the first eight months of FY21, Corporate India invested US$ 12.25 billion overseas in countries such as the US, Singapore and the Netherlands. The tendencies during the past decades show that Indian companies invest more in developed countries, which points to the high confidence in their strengths as well as to the business opportunities and assets at convenient prices present in these markets. India is the largest source of Greenfield projects among the BRIC states, and an attractive target for European countries, regions and cities willing to acquire FDI.

European start-ups have received increased funding from India in the past decade. The economic complementarity between the Indian expansion trend and the interest of European countries in seeking potential investors provides new opportunities for bilateral relations. There are more than 140,000 startups in Europe, of which over 43,000 have raised at least one recorded round of funding. Cross-border investment accounts for two-thirds of all capital invested in the European tech ecosystem. From the total capital invested for European Tech companies into rounds of more than $250M, 22% of investments comes from Asia.

We are building this Indian VC connect platform with the aim to connect Indian VCs, Corporates, Angel investors and investor networks and platforms to EU start-ups and build capacity of Indian investors and EU start-ups on the opportunities for investment and growth.

Event details:
• Date: 23rd April 2021
• Time: 11:00 – 13:00 CEST / 14:30 – 16:30 IST
• Platform: Zoom

Post the pitch sessions we will facilitate personalized one–to–one interaction with the Indian investors who have shown interest to have further discussions. Post this, the investors and start-ups can continue to connect, interact and follow on The Global Technology Interface® ( GTI ®) online platform to build their relationship in a more long-term, sustained manner. GBI can also support the European start-ups with any additional information on Indian investors that they are interacting with. GBI will support to nurture and develop discussions to facilitate business and investments.