The VC Fellowship

What does it take to build a consumer brand, and what makes it investable? Today, we hosted Sambit Dash, Partner at RPSG Capital Ventures, for an insightful conversation at the Prague office. From starting his career at Nestlé to working across brands like Mamaearth, Taco Bell, and The Derma Co., Sambit shared how his journey eventually led him to venture capital, where he has spent the last four years. The conversation explored some interesting questions: - What do investors actually look for before writing a cheque? - Why do investment considerations differ across industries? - At what stage should a startup consider raising venture capital? A great evening of candid conversations, practical insights, and perspectives from both sides of the table: building businesses and investing in them. Want to be part of conversations like these? Apply for the next cohort of The VC Fellowship and get access to our closed-door meetups with investors and industry leaders. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #evebts #metvy #vc #networking #startups #d2c

An evening of decoding India's D2C ecosystem with Shuchi Pandya from Fireside Ventures! We recently hosted Shuchi Pandya, Fireside Ventures, for an exclusive fireside chat with The VC Fellowship community, bringing together our fellows, founders, investors and operators for an engaging conversation on India's evolving consumer landscape. For our fellows, it was an opportunity to go beyond investment frameworks and understand how an experienced consumer investor evaluates businesses, identifies emerging opportunities and develops investment conviction. A few interesting themes from the conversation: → Emerging D2C opportunities: Which consumer categories and market shifts are attracting investor attention? → Finding the right niche: How are brands identifying and serving distinct consumer segments across Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets? → The investor's lens: What does Fireside Ventures look for when evaluating founders, business models and long-term potential? → AI and consumer brands: How might AI reshape differentiation and competitive advantages in D2C? Shuchi also walked us through some of Fireside's recent investments, offering our fellows a closer look at the thinking behind actual investment decisions. What made the evening particularly valuable was the opportunity for our fellows to ask questions directly, challenge assumptions and understand consumer investing from someone actively shaping the sector. At The VC Fellowship, these interactions are an important part of how our fellows learn, connecting investment concepts with the perspectives of practising investors. A special thank you to Shuchi Pandya for her time, candid insights and continued support for our fellowship community. Looking forward to many more such conversations! https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #TheVCFellowship #FiresideVentures #VentureCapital #ConsumerInvesting #D2C

From hosting Karthik B. Reddy virtually for our fellows to bringing him into a room with our Mumbai community! On October 24, The VC Fellowship hosted an exclusive fireside chat with Karthik B. Reddy, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, followed by an interactive Q&A, networking and a book signing. Having previously hosted Karthik for an online workshop, this was an opportunity for our fellows to engage with him in person and explore the nuances of venture capital through his experience of building Blume over the past 15+ years. Shawrya Mehrotra, Co-founder of The VC Fellowship, led the conversation, covering some fascinating questions: → Why does the power law fundamentally shape how VC funds invest? → What makes an investor willing to back a founder for the next decade? → How do investors maintain conviction when portfolio companies take longer than expected to succeed? The evening concluded with a fun rapid-fire round, followed by an open Q&A where our fellows could ask their own questions, interact with Karthik personally and get signed copies of his book. For us, these are the experiences that make The VC Fellowship community valuable: opportunities to engage directly with investors who have spent years building funds, backing founders and navigating the realities of venture capital. A special thank you to Karthik Reddy for consistently making time for our fellows and supporting what we're building at The VC Fellowship. ——————————————— Application open for our next cohort. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #TheVCFellowship #BlumeVentures #KarthikReddy #VentureCapital #Mumbai

From evaluating a live deal to understanding what goes into an Investment Committee memo. We recently hosted Namit Chugh, Impact Investor at HealthQuad, for an interactive session with our VC Fellowship fellows. Drawing from his experience in healthcare and impact investing, Namit walked our fellows through a real deal and actual IC memos, offering a practical look at how investment opportunities are assessed, debated and presented to investment committees. An insightful session that brought the investment process out of presentations and into real-world decision-making. Thank you, Namit, for sharing your experience and giving our fellows such a valuable perspective on the investment process! Want access to such curated sessions. Apply now: https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #TheVCFellowship #VentureCapital #HealthQuad #InvestmentCommittee

Your first angel investment is probably the hardest one to make.Not necessarily because of capital, but because of the questions that come before it. Where do you find promising startups? How do you evaluate a business with limited financial history? What gives you enough conviction to write that first cheque? At The VC Fellowship, we're hosting Aniruddha Jaju for an online conversation on Zero to One of Angel Investing. An IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Aniruddha brings over 14 years of experience building and scaling businesses across technology and consumer sectors. Having served as Chief of Staff at Amazon MX Player and invested in companies including Pine Labs and PharmEasy, he brings perspectives from both operating and investing. We'll explore how angel investors source opportunities, assess founders, think about valuations, manage downside risks, and gradually build an investment portfolio. More importantly, what does it actually take to move from being interested in startups to becoming an investor? 🔗 Register here: https://luma.com/in9jq9ce ————————————————— Applications open for our next cohort. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #AngelInvesting #TheVCFellowship #VentureCapital #StartupInvesting

Hiring Alert | Rockstud Capital Interested in venture capital and excited about investing in businesses at the intersection of manufacturing, industrial innovation and deep technology? Rockstud Capital is hiring an Investment Associate – Venture Capital to identify promising businesses, build founder relationships and develop investment recommendations across India's manufacturing-led and applied deep-tech ecosystem. In this role, you’ll: • Source investment opportunities through founder outreach, sector research and industry networks • Build relationships with founders and ecosystem participants • Evaluate business models, market opportunities and competitive positioning • Analyse financial performance, unit economics, capital requirements and valuations • Prepare investment memos outlining opportunities, risks and recommendations • Support due diligence, transaction execution and selected portfolio initiatives Who should apply? • Relevant experience in VC, PE, Investment Banking, Transaction Advisory, Consulting or industrial/technology businesses • Strong financial analysis, modelling and valuation skills • Genuine interest in manufacturing and applied technology • Ability to independently identify opportunities and develop investment perspectives • Strong communication, judgement and follow-through • A degree in Finance, Economics, Engineering, Business or a related field; CA, CFA progress or an MBA is an advantage Location: Mumbai Role: Investment Associate – Venture Capital Work mode: Full-time | On-site Why explore this opportunity? Work with a lean, founder-led investment team evaluating businesses across advanced manufacturing, industrial systems, defence, aerospace, space technologies and industrial sustainability. This role offers the opportunity to take ownership of investment sourcing and evaluation while working closely with founders and contributing to investment decisions. 📩 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/g3MZpHhC Looking to explore more opportunities in venture capital? Join The VC Fellowship to discover curated opportunities and build your career in the investment ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #Hiring #RockstudCapital #VCFellowship #VentureCapital #InvestmentAssociate #DeepTech #Manufacturing #PrivateEquity #StartupInvesting #MumbaiJobs

A lot of content being created but why not for emerging VCs? I thought let's have a conversation and make content while we at it. Who do we need for it? we need a wanna be VC, a real VC and an LP So we have Conscious Morpheus who is also a struggling Standup Comedian. Who will be pitching a fund. But we have thankfully a real operator turned vc - Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl who can specifically talk about creating his own LP deck - what worked and what didnt? And Matt Curtolo, CAIA who plays the LP hat. One who has already reviewed 400+ LP decks this year! But the fun of livestream is live action and drama and learnings. So we have some VC fellows from Metvy VC Fellowship cofounded by Rajan Luthra and Shawrya Mehrotra Akhilesh Jhawar, Aayushi Agarwal, Pramoth Arun and Mariah A. you ready? If you wana tune in - just subscribe to the YT channel @honestcreate (link below) https://lnkd.in/gze2NQMH

$184 Mn+ raised by Indian startups last week. But where is the capital actually flowing? AI and Healthtech alone attracted nearly 84% of the total funding, making one thing clear: investor interest is increasingly concentrated in a few sectors. Here's what stood out 👇 - AI continues to dominate: $93.9 Mn across 6 deals, led by Different's $48 Mn round. - Healthtech follows closely: $60.6 Mn across just 2 deals, with Even Healthcare securing $50 Mn. Seed-stage remains active: 5 startups raised $51.4 Mn, accounting for nearly 28% of total funding. Investor activity: Trifecta Capital and Blume Ventures emerged as the most active investors, backing 2 startups each. The interesting contrast? Despite strong individual rounds, overall startup funding declined 22% week-on-week. Capital is flowing, but not necessarily spreading evenly. Are we seeing stronger investor conviction in select sectors, or a narrowing of venture capital appetite? Applications accepting for our next cohort. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #IndianStartups #TheVCFellowship

A few months ago, we hosted Sambit Dash, Partner at RPSG Capital Ventures, for a closed-door conversation with The VC Fellowship community in Gurugram. What started as a discussion around venture capital turned into a candid exchange on his experience of evaluating 180+ companies in a year, identifying patterns across businesses, and building conviction as an investor. On 30th October, we're bringing Sambit back to Gurugram, and this time, we're decoding the business of D2C. From understanding consumer behaviour and distribution economics to evaluating unit economics, brand differentiation, and scalability, we'll explore what separates promising D2C brands from businesses built to last. More importantly, we'll understand how investors evaluate consumer businesses and what truly makes a D2C brand investment-worthy. Another evening of honest conversations, thoughtful questions, and learning directly from someone who has been making these decisions. 🔗 Registration: https://luma.com/h4nov8du Limited access | Profile-based shortlisting ————————————————— Accepting applications for our next cohort. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #events #community #growth #vc

Last Saturday, we brought our Mumbai community together for a special book signing with Karthik B. Reddy, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, celebrating his book #DestinyAvenged. The book explores eight entrepreneurial journeys, including Razorpay, Ather Energy, Sula Vineyards and E2E Networks, and the conviction required to build businesses when markets were uncertain and established playbooks were limited. Why is #DestinyAvenged worth reading? For founders: A perspective on navigating uncertainty, capital constraints and the long journey of building enduring businesses. For investors: Insights into identifying category-defining opportunities before their potential becomes obvious. For aspiring VCs and operators: An understanding of market timing, founder judgement and the decisions that shape exceptional companies. What makes the book particularly relevant to the venture ecosystem is its focus on the decisions and uncertainties behind successful businesses, rather than simply their eventual outcomes. At The VC Fellowship, we believe studying these entrepreneurial journeys is an important part of developing investment judgement. It was a pleasure hosting Karthik and bringing our community together around Destiny Avenged. Thank you, Karthik B. Reddy, for sharing these stories with us. And special thanks to Dextrus Workspace for hosting us. —————————————————————— Accepting applications for our next cohort. https://lnkd.in/gsNZQFvH #TheVCFellowship #DestinyAvenged #BlumeVentures #VentureCapital #IndianStartups