BENGALURU: The startup and e-commerce action in Bengaluru has caught the fancy of Bengaluru`s developers. Jitu Virwani of the Embassy Group, Bhaskar Raju of DivyaSree, Nitesh Shetty of Nitesh Estates, M Murali of Shriram Proper ties and Raja Bagmane of Bagmane Group, among others, have either picked up stakes in ventures or helped incubate them. Raju has seed-funded Binge, an app co-founded by Skyye Bar`s Santosh Martin.
It makes billing at restaurants faster and easier. It`s live at 20 upscale eateries. Jitu Virwani of the Embassy Group, estimated to have a personal wealth topping $1.
5 billion, has taken a 50% stake in fashion e-tailer Styletag.com. The two-yearold shopping portal focuses on upmarket and premium women`s clothing and accessories.
It`s the brainchild of Sanjay Shroff and Yashodhara Shroff, founders of Ffolio. India`s startup ecosystem has seen many angel funders emerge in recent times, but there`s appetite for many more given the excitement around entrepreneurship. With real estate tycoons opening up their wallets to angel funding, it could give startups a leg-up.
Some developers are betting on India`s entrepreneurial talent through investments in venture funds and angel networks. Mantri Developers CMD Sushil Mantri and Salarpuria Group MD Bijay Agarwal have both invested in Exfinity Fund, an earlystage technology fund promoted by former Infosys CFOs and board members T V Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan. Sandeep Raheja of K Raheja Constructions is an active investor in Kae Capital, a Mumbai fund that invests in tech startups.
Nitesh Shetty has set up an investment entity , Nitesh Technologies, which has invested in three startups. The seed to early-stage investments span sectors as diverse as food apps and analytics, including a startup that`s modelled on the lines of mobile ad network InMobi. M Murali, MD of Shriram Properties, has invested in three startup ventures.
"It`s a hobby for me, and I`m actively looking to make more such investments," he says. ....
Agarwaltimes
Agarwaltimes - Startup and e-commerce action in Bengaluru
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