Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Pravin Gandhi, Seedfund – Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, India (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Vandana Upadhyay

Pravin: So, we went with an idea of a $50 million fund. It turned out to be quite easy to raise and within six months we were all ready to go. We had interest from variety of funds. We could have raised more money but we didn’t because for us this itself was an entrepreneurial challenge to prove that this concept works. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Pravin Gandhi, Seedfund – Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, India (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Vandana Upadhyay

I am talking to Pravin Gandhi, a founding partner at Seedfund, which is one of the India’s leading early-stage venture capital funds, with operations in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

Seedfund was founded in 2006 by Bharati Jacob, Mahesh Murthy, and Pravin Gandhi.  In 2010, they raised Seedfund II, which is a $54 million fund. The fund also runs its own incubator.

Irina: Hi, Pravin. Let’s start with your personal background. Where are you from and where did you receive your education? How did you arrive at this point in your life?

Pravin: I was born in Mumbai and did my schooling here. I did my undergraduate work at Cornell and then returned to India after I finished my undergraduate degree. Then I worked in a couple of companies because I really wanted to be an entrepreneur. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Bruce Wright And Molly Gilbert, Arizona Center for Innovation – Tucson (Part 5)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: Where do your revenues come from?

Bruce: First of all, we get grants from the university and other folks. We also charge fees to our clients. It’s on a sliding scale. In our first phase, startups pay a modest fee.

It increases in Mentored Launch, and then when they come into residence, they pay more fees. If they want to stay on longer beyond that, then they would move to regular lease rates. We generate revenue from our client fees, but that’s probably only about a third of our total budget. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Bruce Wright And Molly Gilbert, Arizona Center for Innovation – Tucson (Part 4)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Bruce: Medipacs [one of the incubator’s success stories] is a very low cost,  highly reliable infusion pump. The inventor is a man named Mark Banister.

Medipacs pumps could be produced at a fraction of the cost of the current pumps available on the market. The pumps could be used for three or four days, and then they’re disposable. They also allow for continuous monitoring of the medication being administered. They have a number of cool applications. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Bruce Wright And Molly Gilbert, Arizona Center for Innovation – Tucson (Part 3)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What is the application process to your incubator?

Molly: They have an application that they need to fill out. We sit down and we meet with them, probably a couple of times, and try and sort out what their technologies are, what they’re trying to build their companies around, so that we have a pretty good idea. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Bruce Wright And Molly Gilbert, Arizona Center for Innovation – Tucson (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: Does your incubator service the entire local community?

Bruce: Yes. We focus primarily on University of Arizona faculty and students, but about half of our companies come from the community. We’re open to any technology startup.

Irina: Would you describe the ideal company that would benefit from your incubation?

Bruce: I think that any company that is trying to take a technology product, service or idea to the market would benefit from what we do. We’re not a general-purpose incubator. We’re really focused on technology, partly because of our affiliation with the university and the kinds of expertise and facilities we can bring in. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Bruce Wright And Molly Gilbert, Arizona Center for Innovation – Tucson (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

I am talking to Bruce Wright and Molly Gilbert, both of whom are with the University of Arizona Office of University Research Parks (OURP).

Bruce Wright is associate vice president of OURP. He directs the office and serves as the CEO of the University of Arizona (U of A) Science and Technology Park and Arizona Bioscience Park. He is also president of both the Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) and the Campus Research Corporation (CRC).

Molly Gilbert is deputy director of OURP. She leads strategic initiatives there and serves as project manager for the Arizona Bioscience Park.

Our conversation is primarily focused on the Arizona Center for Innovation, the university’s technology business incubator. >>>

Business Incubator Series: Troy Henikoff, Excelerate Labs – Chicago, Illinois (Part 10)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What are your daily personal challenges? What do you think could help you to be more effective?

Troy: You mean other than having 48 hours in the day?

Irina: Yes, other than time limitations.

Troy: My role is overseeing the operations of Excelerate. More important, it’s working one-on-one with the companies. I have weekly meetings with the companies that are formalized. >>>