Aspiring entrepreneurs in Coimbatore who are looking for avenues to get the required funding for their project will soon have a group of investors to study their proposal, mentor them and extend financial support.
Nativelead, a platform that encourages entrepreneurship in tier-two and tier-three cities and creates a network of investors for angel funding, plans to start its Coimbatore chapter in May.
Nativelead and TiE organised a meeting here on Wednesday on “Developing Start-up Ecosystem and Angel Investment Culture in Coimbatore”. Sivarajah Ramanathan, founder and president of Nativelead, told The Hindu that 35 to 40 potential investors here had evinced interest in becoming members of Nativelead and there could be more than a dozen start-ups that they can invest in.
The organisation was started in Madurai two years ago to promote entrepreneurship in smaller cities and towns and the region-focused angel investor network was developed last year. It has as many as 42 members in Madurai and they have funded three projects so far. The Tiruchi chapter of Nativelead will be formed shortly and the Coimbatore chapter in May.
“If there is a network, investors in Madurai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore will be able to invest in start-ups in any of these regions,” he says.
Projects are selected based on innovation and scalability. The minimum amount an investor should invest in the company is Rs.25,000. The Indian Angel Network is the knowledge partner of Nativelead. In Madurai, there were more social enterprises and in Coimbatore, it is more technology-based companies that look for angel funding.
Mr. Ramanathan said that there are several incubators in the region and Coimbatore is known for its entrepreneurship. The organisation will look at bringing in better connectivity between the existing entrepreneurs and the first-generation and aspiring entrepreneurs and provide them with the required mentoring, thus encouraging entrepreneurship.
