VentureNursery, India’s first angel-backed start-up accelerator, has partnered with Paris&Co, the economic development and innovation agency of the French capital city, to help its graduating companies explore the French market.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect, signed recently between the two organisations, aims to benefit the participants and alumni of India’s premier angel-backed accelerator wanting to explore French market and vice versa in a variety of ways. Both partners will focus initially on start-ups in the IT, Consumer Technology, FinTech, Healthcare, Cleantech, Travel and Tourism and refine it based on requirements of their start-ups.
Under this partnership, founders of VentureNursery alumni can go to Paris, where a Paris&Co executive designated to be their local buddy. They can operate out of any of ten Paris&Co incubators for a pre-defined period at no cost.
In addition, VentureNursery alumni get access to two hundred start-ups housed at Paris&Co for sharing of knowledge and connections, availing business support services about doing business in France and attend events conducted by Paris&Co free of charge.
Any VentureNursery alumni founder desirous of staying longer than three months to explore the market, conduct market research and build connections can do so for up to twelve months at a preferred price, including highly subsidised residential accommodation.
“Since inception VentureNursery has nurtured several world class start-ups that are solving real-world problems for the customer and building scalable businesses. VentureNursery’s obsessive focus is aimed at helping our Alumni take pole position. Our partnership with Paris&Co will open up opportunities for our alumni ventures to explore international markets,” said VentureNursery Co-Founder Ravi Kiran.
Added Didier Guillot, president of Paris&Co, “It is a great pleasure to sign this MOU with VentureNursery. The purpose of this agreement is to establish a mutually beneficial relationship for each incubator. This is part of our objective to internationalise the innovation ecosystem of Paris.”
VentureNursery will in turn reciprocate by supporting Paris&Co incubated start-ups by offering work space at no charge, for a pre-defined period.
VentureNursery will also offer advice on setting up, doing business in India and connecting them to India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The visiting Paris&Co start-ups will also get access to VentureNursery events.
Many of its alumni have earned global recognition. Ritesh Agarwal of OYO Rooms was the first Indian to win the prestigious Thiel Fellowship. Google chose SeekSherpa as the only Indian company in 2015 for its Google for Entrepreneurs Exchange in Astrolabs Dubai. Arya.ai was amongst the four Tomorrow’s Technology start-ups in the world in Silicon Valley Forum 2015 list and on the International Innovators’ List of French innovation agency Paris&Co.
VentureNursery, India’s first angel-backed start-up accelerator, pursues its goal of helping Indian start-ups and founders achieve pole position, in their endeavour to solve large problems and create scalable ventures.
VentureNursery’s acceleration programs focus on first time entrepreneurs and help them find their feet and develop an ability to take difficult decisions in business. Through its intensive acceleration programs that last between eight and forty weeks, the start-up founders develop market understanding, learn business fundamentals and get solution validation from experienced entrepreneurs and business professionals, helping them reduce some of the basic risk of starting, staying and building the business. The program is customised for each start-up team.
VentureNursery has successfully fostered a culture of curiosity, problem solving and innovation among its alumni to create enterprises, employment and socio-economic value.
By developing a sustainable mentoring infrastructure consisting of inspired mentors from diverse fields, VentureNursery has mentored 21 start-ups, of which 16 have graduated and 12 are active and growing well. VentureNursery alumni have created nearly 1000 jobs.
VentureNursery alumni include branded budget hotel chain OYO Rooms, video interview platform Talview, fashion and lifestyle social commerce platform Klip, crowd funding platform Catapooolt, travel start-up SeekSherpa, artificial general intelligence company InvenZone, last minute hotel booking company HotelsAroundYou, curated activity and hobby classes discovery company FindUrClass, on-demand beauty and wellness platform The Home Salon and on-demand service platform for handyman, repair and home maintenance services Fixy.
Paris&Co is the economic development and innovation agency of Paris. Paris&Co has three missions:
• Helping companies: Facilitating the creation and the development of innovative startups, prospecting and accompanying international companies during their set up, launch and growth-phase in Paris
• Fostering a culture of innovation in the Paris region by stimulating the emergence, the promotion, the integration and the delivery of services, technologies and innovative practices, including experimentation
• Promoting the attractiveness and competitiveness of the metropolis abroad and structuring and improving the territorial offer, animated directly and indirectly by Paris&Co
The agency aims at creating jobs and economic value in the French capital. Paris&Co is headed by a board of directors representing the Parisian ecosystem: the City of Paris, companies, institutions and business enablers. Paris&Co is financially supported by the City of Paris and numerous public and private stakeholders of the Parisian economic landscape. Paris&Co is the result of the merger, effective from 1st January 2015, between Paris Développement, the Parisian.
