Making Fundraising Easy For Founders Some of the notable startups in LetsVenture's portfolio are Trell, Classplus, Testbook, SUGAR Cosmetics, Khatabook, Airmeet, Yulu, Agnikul, Melorra to name a few

By S Shanthi

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Company Handout

Co-founder and CEO of LetsVenture, Shanti Mohan's journey as an investor stems from her founder-operator background at an embedded systems company she had founded in early 2000 called Ionic Microsystems. After exiting the venture, she worked at HP in India and US in product roles. LetsVenture was founded in 2013 with the simple vision of making startup fundraising easy for founders and investors.

Over the last 7+ years as part of Mohan's day job of building LetsVenture, she had the opportunity to interact with thousands of founders and investors across the globe. This grounds-up learning formed the foundation of her understanding of the various sectors, investment thesis, founder-investor dynamic, market dynamics, and more. "I have seen first-hand the massive transformation of India's startup ecosystem right from the early days of the startup boom in 2013 when internet adoption was gaining steam to the present day when startups are going public," Mohan tells us.

She believes that being a founder helps her when she has to evaluate founders and decide to invest. As an investor, her belief is to double index on founders. "Ideas change, businesses pivot, markets expand or contract based on macro conditions we may not have control over. What remains constant in this change is the founder's belief in what he or she is building, as well as his or her persistence and resilience to build something meaningful," said Mohan.

At the stage at which the LetsVenture invests, which is very early, sometimes for business metrics to be validated, understanding why the problem is big enough and why this is the right team that can win becomes important. Outside of this, the company uses a thesis as a framework to evaluate founders and the domains it wants to invest in. Some of the notable startups in LetsVenture's portfolio are Trell, Classplus, Testbook, SUGAR Cosmetics, Khatabook, Airmeet, Yulu, Agnikul, Melorra to name a few.

While Mohan's investments in the last 3-4 years were ad-hoc, in 2021 she has returned to actively investing. "My thesis is BIG BILLION BHARAT - bet on Big structural changes India is seeing today, bet on founders who want to build billion-dollar companies focused on solving and building for India. Fundamentally I believe that this decade will belong to the Indian founder, with CXO's of large startups founding companies. This decade, founders will build faster, bigger and more globally competitive businesses from India," she said.

S Shanthi

Former Senior Assistant Editor

Shanthi specializes in writing sector-specific trends, interviews and startup profiles. She has worked as a feature writer for over a decade in several print and digital media companies. 

 

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Management

Want a Reputation People Trust? Start With These 4 Simple Habits

Thought provoking and actionable ways to lead your business to earn trust in your industry

Business News

Olive Garden's Sold Out Pasta-Shaped Pool Noodles Are Selling for Double on Resale Sites

The pool floats shaped like pasta launched earlier this summer and quickly sold out.

Business News

Samsung Is Looking into Making AI Necklaces, Earrings, and Other Wearables: 'All Kinds of Possibilities'

A Samsung executive confirmed this week that the company is working on smart glasses, with plans to expand to other types of wearable devices.

News and Trends

India Accelerator Launches Two Flagship Programs to Build Future Startup Leaders

These flagship programs are tailored to cultivate entrepreneurial and venture capital talent—nurturing the builders, operators, and investors who will shape the next wave of Indian innovation.