Venture Catalysts expands footprint in WB, launches 'VCats' in Kolkata

In a move to revitalise India's start-up landscape, Venture Catalysts, an integrated incubation platform on Tuesday announced its partnership with Ideal Insurance and Kreative Fingers for its Kolkata expansion, aimed at boosting the innovation quotient of start-ups in the region by enabling state-of-the-art support facilities.

The development is in sync with the platform's long-term vision of fostering entrepreneurship across the country by creating a robust and interconnected pan-India support network with significant presence in tier II geographies, in addition to the top metros.

The launch of the latest VCats chapter was marked with start-up conclaves in West Bengal, in association with Ideal Insurance and Kreative Fingers. VCats also gave five select start-ups a chance to secure investments by participating in an elevator pitch format.

"Conventionally associated with bureaucracy and the service-sector, the rising entrepreneurial spirit in the City of Joy, punctuated by successful start-up stories such as Wow Momos and Fusion Charts, is great news for the Indian start-up ecosphere. Venture Catalysts wants to play a leading role in supporting such a change by nurturing the culture of socially-driven entrepreneurship which distinguishes the launch of our operations in Kolkata," said Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, cofounder and president, Venture Catalysts.

"Although Kolkata currently has some catching up to do with other metros such as New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, in terms of the number of start-ups as well as total investment volumes, the entrepreneurial outlook in the region is extremely positive. The regional expansion of Venture Catalysts, one of the most dedicated enablers of start-up growth in the country, will further boost the state's thriving start-up ecosystem," added Rahul Agarwal, Founder, Ideal Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd.