IVY Growth Associates are financial advisors who enable and help evolve startups and startup founders. Founded in 2021, it is the brainchild of four young entrepreneurs Rachit Poddar, Prateek Tosniwal, Mehul Shah and Sharad Todi.
The sector agnostic Angel Network & MicroVC currently has 30+ Shareholders and 300+ Angel Investors with over 65+ Investments. The team helps startups, and their founders work towards building a startup ecosystem that is sustainable and scalable in a collaborative manner. Based out of Surat, the team has worked with startups across the country.
IVY Growth Associates has assisted, mentored, nurtured, and accelerated a number of early-stage businesses spread across Clean Tech, ED Tech, Agri Tech, Web 3.0, EV & D2C. The team values creation, communication, and collaboration. They work with startups as advisers giving them valuable experience learning to achieve set goals and aiding them in finding the right investors from their angel network.
About Rachit Poddar, Co-Founder & Chief of Partnership, IVY Growth Associates :
The 26-year-old second generation entrepreneur from ‘The Rachit Group’ headquartered in Surat has predominantly been into the textile industry since 1992. Rachit turned into an investor when he took over the reins of the Group. After mentoring several young entrepreneurs and understanding the numerous challenges they face, he decided to set up the IVY Growth Associate to support the budding entrepreneurs.
He is currently the Co-Founder at IVY Growth Associate - a sector-agnostic angel network and MicroVC. His personal mission is to build a full stack global startup ecosystem right from incubation to funding connecting across India, UK, UAE & Israel, and has collectively invested in 100+ startups.
Rachit has a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Wolverhampton in BA (Hons.), a Business management degree from Mumbai and an M.Sc Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Enterprise Development from the University of Westminster, London, and Executive Education in Corporate Finance at London Business School. His area of focus at IVY Growth is to bring new partnerships for the company.
Widely travelled and networked he leverages it to garner global insight into various aspects of the startup ecosystem. A traveler by passion with visits to over 29 countries and 100 cities.
An exclusive interview with Rachit Poddar, Co-Founder of IVY Growth Associates
When was the company founded and how many employees do you have in your startup?
Our company was founded in 2021 at Surat, Gujarat. The team that started with four partners i.e. Prateek Tosniwal, Rachit Poddar, Sharad Todi and Mehul Shah is now a strong team of 10 people and over 30 shareholders spread across India and Dubai.
How do you get an idea to start this venture? What was your Eureka moment?
IVY Growth emerged as a solution to the gap between start-ups and investors. IVY Growth came into the picture to accelerate Entrepreneurship, economy, and employment to drive angel investments across India and Foster young start-ups.
Is the company funded? If not, any plans in the pipeline?
Yes, we have done 3 private placement rounds so far and we are looking to raise additional funds in the coming year.
Can you tell us a brief about your network and the business?
We invest in startups from Seed Stage to Series B and across industry - sectors, including EVs, marketplaces, SaaS, D2C brands and many more. These startups are evaluated on set Qualitative & Quantitative metrics. They provide consultancy to early-stage startups concerning fundraising and global connects, industry connects and business mentoring, and earn advisory sweat equity for our investors. They Establish an Angel Network that helps them generate revenue in terms of Success Fees & carry-on successful exits from startups adding more value to Ivy Growth's shareholders. IVY Growth has founded 21by72, a flagship Startups-Investor Summit and has also developed Angel investing tech platform Angeltech.in for investors.
What is the USP of your network?
We don’t charge any transaction fee, on-boarding or membership fee from any of the investors. We write the first cheque before syndicating capital from other investors.
What is the future plan in the next 3 years?
Until date, we have invested in over 70+ start-ups and we aim to invest in over 150+ Start-ups in the next 3 years.
We are also in the process of getting a SEBI REGULATED Fund management license to launch a 15M$ Fund.
How different are you from your competitors in the market?
As a growing network, we are focusing rigorously on building a robust platform by leveraging on Global Networks, Various Spectrum of Capital Assistance and Strategic Partnerships.
What is your background? Are there other co-founders?
As a team, we cumulatively have 10+ years experience in Startup Investing and Financial Services. Co-Founders are Chartered Accountants, Serial Entrepreneurs and Alumni of Esteemed Institutions like London Business School, SPJIMR.
Social Media Handles:-
Website : https://ivygrowth.co.in/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/ivy-growth-associates/?originalSubdomain=in
Twitter : https://twitter.com/ivygrowth?lang=en
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ivygrowthassociates/
