The Silicon Valley chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) on Wednesday announced an initiative “Billion Dollar Babies” to scale Indian startups globally and help them reach $1 Bn in value. The statement released by the company says, “Our Billion Dollar Babies initiative aims to help select Indian product start-ups reach $1 Bn in global enterprise value by leveraging our reach and resources.”
Billion Dollar Babies, which will start in January 2015, will bring selected startups to Silicon Valley for this program. A new ecosystem that bridges the worlds of India and the US to help entrepreneurs go global, companies connect with mentors, potential customers and venture capitalists. The companies will be able to participate in the TiE CIO Forum and other educational events, and receive help with legal, accounting, HR/benefits, hiring, marketing, and other company-building tasks.
TiE Silicon Valley, a nonprofit association dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in the Bay Area, hosts networking events and mentors startup founders.
Venktesh Shukla, President, TiE Silicon Valley said, “The novel initiative offers an opportunity for Indian start-ups to foray into a competitive global market, as they get access to our rich ecosystem of successful entrepreneurs, top executives, venture capitalists and potential customers.”
“Venture capitalists are taking notice of the growing number of companies in the US-India space,” said BV Jagadeesh, managing partner at KAAJ Ventures and co-chair of Billion Dollar Babies initiative. India provides a large domestic market where these companies can validate and refine their products before entering global playing field, he added.
Other members of the Billion Dollar Babies program include, Nishith Desai, founder of Nishith Desai Associates, a research-based Indian law firm with offices around the world. Ravi Gururaj, chairman & co-founder of Frictionless Ventures. Ashish Gupta, managing director at Helion Advisors, an India-focused venture capital fund. Dinesh Katiyar, serial entrepreneur and partner at Accel Partners. Ash Lilani, managing partner at Saama Capital. Manu Rekhi, director at Inventus Capital Partners, an India-US venture capital firm, and former product development executive.
