Loading...

Techcircle Startup Walkabout Pit Stop V Helion Venture Partners

Loading...

Helion Venture Partners is not averse to funding entrepreneurs who have failed in their previous ventures.

On the contrary, Alok Goyal, who is the youngest partner of the VC firm, says that Helion is excited to work with repeat entrepreneurs.

Loading...

In fact, Helion looks out for those "who have the hunger" even if their initial attempts to build companies have not succeeded. Dropouts too can fit the bill if the idea is disruptive enough.

Goyal's comments were lauded by the 20 delegates who had accompanied Techcircle.in for the Walkathon at Helion's Gurgaon office.

The participating executives were kicked about taking lessons from one of the biggest early-to-mid-stage fund managers in the country.

Loading...

Goyal exhorted the participants, mostly representatives of consumer tech firms, to hire advisors who can connect them to investors.

Investors want to see the performance of companies before they take a plunge. "It's leap of faith....We are a commercial entity and not a charitable trust. We listen to hundreds of pitches but select a few who have the potential to scale up," he said.

Goyal's presentation was followed by a barrage of questions, ranging from tech startup preferences to ticket sizes. Some executives wanted to know why investors rely more on youngsters rather than experienced entrepreneurs.

Loading...

Goyal also sought to allay participants' fear of VC's being dictatorial in their interaction with startups. "It seems that VCs have lots of rights according to the clauses mentioned in the deal. In reality, this doesn't happen...the moment we walk in to intervene into the management decisions, the capital is dead there only," he said.

At Helion, Goyal focuses on enterprise software and outsourcing related investments. Prior to that, he was COO of SAP India. Goyal has also worked with Siebel Systems, the McKenna Group, McKinsey & Company and Cadence Design Systems.


Sign up for Newsletter

Select your Newsletter frequency