Prateek Behera and Abhishek Sethi, graduates from BITS Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani) & IIMA (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad), have recently launched a $1 million fund. This fund will be used for supporting the growth of startups that were founded by college students.

gradCapital, a student-driven venture capital firm, has reportedly revealed its intention to invest $25,000 each in 20 startups to be chosen over the next year. This venture capital firm has been operating under the support of 'CIIE.CO - The Innovation Continuum', which is based out of the IIMA, and is planning to host an 8-week, intensive programme for these startups.

The statement further added that the funds will help build a robust and sustainable structure for companies as well as provide them with considerable tools, a network of peers, crucial knowledge, and mentors and investors to ensure significant expansion.

Furthermore, the VC firm has unveiled plans to make investments in 100 startups over the next 3 years. The company has started opening the application process for its 1^st cohort of startups. Mr. Sethi has reportedly cited that the young investors hold a strong belief in academic spaces, with entrepreneurship being the key to bring such crucial ideas to life and in turn, create value for society.

Both Behera and Sethi ran a pilot study for their hypothesis while conceptualizing the idea of gradCapital. These initiatives have resulted in their selection of a group of 8 companies, including Neuralastic, Valerio Electric, Codedamn, Humit, and KiranaKart. Behera further stressed upon the tremendous value to be unlocked by students from the Science, Commerce, Arts, and Engineering colleges.

In order to identify the student-run startups, gradCapital hired associates and collaborated with student communities across campuses in the country to scout for the best talent.

Source credit:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/iima-bits-pilani-grads-launch-1-million-fund-to-support-student-startups/articleshow/82966904.cms