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Igniting the Spirit of Investments in India The flagship event of Lets Venture – LetsIgnite brought together the thought leadership of prominent investors to discuss the future of India's startup ecosystem

By Aastha Singal

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Startups, funding and entrepreneurship have become buzzwords today. People are always rooting to learn more about the ecosystem. LetsVenture brought together the thought leadership of India's prominent investors for their flagship event – LetsIgnite. Over 150 investors, including angels, VCs, HNIs, corporate leaders, family offices, serial entrepreneurs and other industry experts attended the conference.

The 6th edition of LetsIgnite took place on 15th June at The Leela Palace, Bangalore around the theme - Organizing India's Private Markets. Aimed at connecting the angel investors, VCs, family offices and corporate companies from India and abroad, the curated conclave was focused at the intersection of the private and public market and the changing dynamics of early-stage funding ecosystem in India.

Co-sponsored by Microsoft for Startups and National Stock Exchange of India; Tech Partner- Amazon Web Services; Ecosystem Partners- Amity Innovation Incubator, OYO Workspaces, Kerala Startup Mission, and Airbus Bizlab; Luxury Partner- Torero and Hospitality Partner- Treebo, the event provided a platform to 22 shortlisted startups to make a pitch and kick-start their fundraising.

Apart from the panel discussions on core topics of investment and two simultaneous roundtables on Healthcare and Fin-tech, the event launched two private sessions for Lead Investors and Lets Venture's Portfolio Companies - The Lead Investors Masterclass delivered by Sunil Kalra and William Bao Bean along with a Blitzscaling session which saw the participation by 70+ LV portfolio startups.

Starting with an interactive fireside chat between two key leaders from the startup industry – Mr. T. V. Mohandas Pai (ex-CFO and Head HR, Infosys and Board Member, NSE) and Sharad Sharam (Co-founder, iSPIRT), the event moved to the discussion on intersection of private and public markets that bridged some major gaps between private and public markets based on the need for companies to create a gateway to public sectors.

The marquee investors Shailesh Lakhani (Managing Director, Sequoia India), Pranav Pai Founding Partner, 3one4 Capital Archana Jahagirdar (CEO & Director, AngelWorks) Sanjay Jha (Co-Founder & CTO, LetsVenture) and Amit Gupta (Co-Founder, YULU BIKE & InMobi) drove a panel discussion for startups to understand how founders can approach the right set of investors while raising early-stage funds.

A closed-door session on the National Health Stack was conducted and an inspiring discussion on the changing landscape of Fin-tech in Asia - "Future of Fintech" with Karena Belin (Co-founder & COO, AngelHub, HongKong) also took place. With a focus on the digital revolution, the fireside chat between Sameer Nigam (Founder & CEO, PhonePe) and Shripati Acharya (Prime Venture Partners) was the event's highlight.

The event also witnessed prominent speakers such as Sunil Kalra (Experienced Lead Investor), Sameer Nigam (Founder & CEO, PhonePe), Sudhir Rao (Founding Managing Partner, IndusAge), Ishita Vora (Head of Primary Markets & Listing, NSE), Anuradha Ramachandran (Investment Director, Omidyar Network), Ruchi Deepak (Co-Founder, Acko), Suniti Nanda (Fin-tech Officer – Government of Maharashtra) and Musthafa PC (CEO at iD Fresh Food) among others.

Aastha Singal

Entrepreneur Staff

Former Features Writer

A business journalist looking to find happiness in the world of startups, investments, MSMEs and more. Officially started her career as a news reporter for News World India, Aastha had short stints with NDTV and NewsX. A true optimist seeking to make a difference, she is a comic junkie who'd rather watch a typical Bollywood masala than a Hollywood blockbuster. 

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