Mr. Swarup Ravichandran led this interactive session by discussing not just the basics of raising capital but also the various approaches in fundraising. Followed by a discussion on tapping the right investors based on the background of the fund. Startups gained insight on things like the kind of company the fund will invest in, the amount of money that will be invested, and the amount of time before the money is to be returned to the limited partners in case of PE (Private Equity) investments.

The legal framework session was driven by Nishith Desai and Associates, led by their leading lawyers Ms. Huzefa Tavawalla and Mr. Aaron Kamath. Aaron kicked off the session by defining Intellectual Property, Copyrights and Patents with respect to the startups. This was followed by a discussion pertinent to retail tech startups and on Data protection and privacy. Huzefa discussed the typical legal issues that throw up in an investor initiated due diligence and how to solve them. The session also saw the discussion using real-world examples of key clauses in Investment Documentation.

For startups who want to get the upper hand in negotiations, this session by Mr. Nilanjan Chaudhuri shared some strategies to drive more revenue. Pricing is a highly sensitive number, Nilanjan discussed the various aspects of correctly pricing a product. Followed by a discussion on making sound contracting negotiation by creating “value”. With reference to a number of real-world examples and case studies, Nilanjan discussed on areas like- how to reach out to the CXOs, when to back off from a deal, and how to study peer pricing.