Anthill Ventures and Indian Actor Rana Daggubati Launch ‘Urban-i’ Programme

 

Anthill will invest up to 100k in the shortlisted startups at the beginning of the programme and up to $1M upon completion of the programme 

by Shrutee K/DNS

India, 9 December 2019: Anthill Ventures, an investment and speed-scaling platform for early growth stage startups, announced the launch of Urban-i, a market access programme focused on accelerating the business growth of consumer brand startups in India. Urban-i will serve as a strategically designed platform to bring together capital, consumer brands and celebrities.

Urban-i is a six-month intensive programme designed to speed-scale consumer brand startups by providing them with the right support and mentorship. A cohort of 5-9 startups working in the areas of personal care, fashion and accessories, food and beverages, health and nutrition, consumer tech, and e-commerce, will be shortlisted. Through regular interventions, Urban-i will enable the startups to create business opportunities, engage with celebrities, raise investments, increase their customer base and generate more revenues. Applications will close on 23 December 2019. Interested startups can apply here: www.urban-i.in

Prasad Vanga, CEO, Anthill Ventures, said, “We are excited to launch Urban-i in partnership with Rana, bringing together a deep commitment to scouting and speed scaling the very best digital consumer brand startups. The launch of Urban-i will add to the Indian startup ecosystem and will focus to co-innovate solutions for the industry. The startups will receive immersive access to Anthill’s global market access channels and will benefit from synergies of a well thought through media, marketing and sales strategy to capture market share in the Urban Indian Market.”

Rana Daggubati, Indian actor, said, “There is an explosion of consumer brand startups that are redefining consumer preferences and lifestyle. India has many promising young startups in this space that have the potential to scale up rapidly, if they are provided with the right support. Urban-i will create a strategically designed platform for entrepreneurs of consumer brand startups. The partnership with Anthill Ventures will scout the best of startups for the program that will help them scale with speed with the host of benefits it brings in.”

Benefits that the startups will receive from the programme:

Get an opportunity to work and scale up under the aegis of Prasad Vanga and Rana Daggubati

Get access to use case POCs at 50+ corporate market access channels

Get access to celebrity/talent endorsements and PR interventions

Get an opportunity to work with target retailers, distributors and e-commerce companies through strategic partnerships

Benefit from hands-on engagement with 20+ world-class mentors and leading business speed scalers

Avail of marketing, brand building and go-to- market strategy refinement services up to $50,000

Learn customer acquisition and engagement strategies to refine the product- market fit

Benefit from investment of $100,000 upfront and up to $1M upon programme completion

Get access to additional syndicated $3M smart capital

Get infrastructure and digital support services up to $500,000

Get access to sales demo days, bootcamps and investor events

Avail of additional value-added services for legal, IP, tax, company structuring, etc. 

Also, the programme will be customised in a way that each startup can drive maximum value for its respective business. The startups will also have access to diverse customer networks through partnerships with leading retailers, distributors, e-commerce companies. The programme for the first batch of chosen startups will commence from February 2020. Startups will be shortlisted from hundreds of applications after an extensive screening process.

The startups must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply:

Must be promising consumer startups with focus areas of personal care, fashion and accessories, food and beverages, health and nutrition, consumer tech and e-commerce

Should have established a product market fit with customers

Should have raised a first round of funding and preferably generating revenue

Must have a clear growth strategy that Urban-i can help them execute 

Must have a full-fledged team and paying customers

About Anthill Ventures: Anthill Ventures is a premier global speed-scaling ecosystem for startups. Its unique ability is to invest in and rapidly scale early-stage companies and enable them to raise funding within 12 to 18 months. Its dedicated team in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Singapore enables the startups with an extensive global network of venture capitalists, private equity firms, family offices and luminaries in the technology industry. Anthill Ventures primarily focuses on exciting technology startups in verticals such as fintech, health tech, life sciences, media and entertainment and smart cities.visit www.urban-i.in