1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sonali Vijayavargiya of Augment Ventures (Part 4)

Sonali Vijayavargiya: I think the engine has started. People are engaging. There is an increasing awareness of teams and solutions that are coming out of different regions other than just the Bay Area or New York. People are willing to get on a plane and meet with these teams.

Another thing that has happened is, there is an ecosystem of local investors which give confidence to partners. For Nike, having Augment here facilitated that investment. There is an engagement from larger investors with local partnerships. That’s how the model here is evolving.

Additionally, there is a lot of quasi-development programs that the state government or universities are facilitating that seed to A time period. There is a lot of education as well that has gone into informing these communities. I feel that it will be fair to say that there is a hub forming.

Sramana Mitra: Is most of the activity in Michigan out of Ann Arbor?

Sonali Vijayavargiya: Ann Arbor is one of the strong bases here. There is also the Grand Rapids area where there’re a number of angel groups and startups. There’s Detroit for sure. There are a number of areas in Michigan where these activities are happening.

We are a part of this ecosystem, but when we reach out to entrepreneurs outside of our local geography, they are oftentimes looking for relationships or connections to this area. Among the various portfolio companies, almost all are engaged with large corporations, talents, or development house in this greater Midwest geography.

We have a symbiotic relationship. We are going after a product or a company that resonates with us and we think is going to make an impact. Then we try to collaborate and work with our syndicate partners. We have built relationships both with corporate venture funds as well as large private venture funds as well.

That is what we bring to our group of portfolio companies as well as the customer introductions. That is the biggest thing a venture fund can do – expand their access to customers.

Sramana Mitra: Does that mean your portfolio weighs heavily in the manufacturing sector?

Sonali Vijayavargiya: Not really. We do have an investment in an automotive company for tire pressure monitors, a smart hardware device. It’s based out of the Bay Area. They did benefit from our relationships here.

It would be easy to say that we are sector agnostic. We are really looking for the right opportunity. There’s another one that we are exploring in the AgTech space. The play is how do we increase output and yield by 50% and reduce the environmental impact by 50%. What kind of information is going to make you achieve that. What’s the technology behind that?

Our vision is pretty impactful. We are really trying to engage with groups and technologies that have a massive impact. 

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 4 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sonali Vijayavargiya of Augment Ventures
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