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The India Internet Group (IIG), a venture capital firm that invests in early stage internet and mobile technology startups, has launched a campus ambassador programme across top education institutes like IIM, IIT to identify promising start-up entrepreneurs at campuses and deepening connections with students launching startups.
"The main motive behind such a move is to tap into the entrepreneurial talent booming across college campuses in India. India Internet Group wants to help identify, mentor and channel the talent of these student entrepreneurs to make them an active part of the Indian startup ecosystem," Anirudh Suri, MD & Founding Partner, IIG told Entrepreneur India. Suri heads the Delhi and Mumbai offices for IIG Advisors. Prior to that, he worked at McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs, serving clients in the consumer, retail, healthcare, energy and the public sectors.
The firm has so far identified around 20 ambassadors at campuses like IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras, BITS-Pilani, IIM-Ahmedabad, and XLRI-Jamshedpur, focusing primarily on mobile app development with smart and focused entrepreneurs who know how to fail cheaply and quickly.
Such a move will certainly boost the ecosystem by providing investors better visibility about latest happenings on these campuses. "In turn, we will be more likely to invest in start-ups coming out of these campuses. Besides investing, we will give them mentorship and training so that these student entrepreneurs can further refine their ideas and products while still in college. Hopefully, all of this will ensure a very deep pipeline of entrepreneurs for the Indian ecosystem," shares Suri.
The initial investment range can typically depend anywhere between $50K-$200K for selected start-ups.
Students from various under-graduate and graduate schools can apply to be a part of this initiative. IIG will provide necessary resources to help promote the entrepreneurial ecosystems on these campuses. Campus ambassadors will be selected through an application process where they are questioned on their startup experience to gauge their engagement levels and involvement with the venture.
All campus ambassadors will be presenting their top selected ideas on a monthly basis in an IIG investment call and will work closely with the IIG team to conduct further diligence into the startups, as required. "Further due diligence will be conducted by campus ambassadors as a group (who will vote upon the ideas and products) and then the top startups will be evaluated by the IIG Investment Committee," Suri explains further.
Other portfolio companies of IIG includes Findable, TookiTaki, SnapLion, Frrole, inVenture and other. Of these, SnapLion (an app development and marketing company) founded by Nikhil Sama has raised aditional investment from Blume Ventures recently.
