Hyderabad-based startup incubator T-Hub has launched T-Angel, a funding program, which is a joint initiative by T-Hub and the Telangana state government. T-Angel is designed and will be executed by T-Hub with LetsVenture’s funding platform support.
T-Angel is a three-month investment acceleration program in which 30 startups with leading-edge solutions in healthcare, real estate, entertainment, sports, education and finance will be shortlisted.
Applications for this opened on August 29, 2019 and will close on September 30, 2019. The program for the first batch will commence on October 20, 2019.
To be elibigle for T-Angel, the startup should be a registered company looking to raise first/initial rounds of capital, have a product that is launched in the public domain with some initial market traction. It also should be registered in the state of Telangana or intend to move operations to Telangana in due course, along with a full-fledged team and paying customers.
“Startups in Telangana have the potential to grow rapidly, provided they raise funds at the right times. Simultaneously there are many local high worth individuals who can contribute to the growth story of start-ups by becoming angel investor. T-Angel a joint initiative by Telangana government and T-Hub to create a robust investment ecosystem for the state. The program will speed up startups collaborations with investors across the world with support from LetsVenture,” Ravi Narayan, CEO, T-Hub said in a statement.
The chosen startups will need to go through regular interventions through bootcamps and dedicated mentoring to build a strong investment case, which will eventually help them raise capital.
Some of the benefits from the program include progress tracking for three months in a structured manner, bootcamps that are driven by workshops to make the startups investment ready, access to local and national investment partners and access to online pitch review sessions. The startups will also be able to interact one-on-one with T-hub’s dedicated pool of mentors, investors and partners and will also have the opportunity to pitch at the grand finale of T-Day, Hyderabad’s biggest innovation event. It will also receive support in digital infrastructure from T-Hub’s various service providers like Azure, Zoho, AWS.
Top 10 startups out of the 30 per batch will receive funding. The 10 shortlisted startups will be listed on LetsVenture’s investment platform, which has helped over 190 startups raise over $85 million in the last 6 years.
Multiple angels will come together to invest in startups via T-Angel. Additionally, the program aims to make high net worth individuals and startup enthusiasts to become angel Investors in Telangana Ecosystem.
Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary Industries and IT, Telangana State said, “Over the last three years, the Telangana government has been constantly building the right elements to create an ecosystem for startups that allows them to scale with speed. The quantum of funds received by startups in Telangana has grown significantly too, we now see this only increases with the quality of startups the state has gathered. Now is the right time to attract global VCs and Angel Investors, and ensure both startups and investors progress. T-Angel is an initiative in that direction. T-Hub will be leading this program which is the first phase of a series of funding focused programs by the government that will boost the investment ecosystem in Telangana”.