It is an ancient wisdom that until you face the darkest phase in your life, you cannot shine the brightest. Similarly, the darkest phases of crisis always bring disruptive change and ideas into the otherwise stagnating industry.
It happened when the pandemic hit the globe. Though it seemed that everything came to a standstill, in reality, the crisis gave such a momentum to evolution not just globally but in India also, that almost everything transformed in an unprecedently shortest span of time.
The same was the case with India’s startup ecosystem. In the past, people, especially youngsters, were hesitant and afraid to venture into self-employment, entrepreneurship, or starting a business, doubting its and their future altogether in uncertain market scenarios.
Gone are those days, and outdated is that time. Today’s young generation learned fast from the pandemic that uncertainty is the most evident characteristic of everything in this world. It also dawned on them that if one wishes to progress in their personal and professional life, then taking risks and daring to bring the disruption to that illusion of permanency and traditionality is the only way forward.
Bringing that forward momentum to the fore and showing the world that Indian young entrepreneurial minds are now ready to take on the future leadership challenge, Rachit Poddar is leading the cause as the catalyst in accelerating the startup ecosystem.
A Budding Entrepreneurial Mind
Rachit is a second-generation value-oriented entrepreneur, startup accelerator, and angel investor aged 25, based in India and London. He is currently leading the Venture Capital and Diversification division of Rachit Group as an Executive Director, headquartered in Surat, Gujarat, predominantly in the textiles industry.
The group of companies has been one of the market leaders since 1992 in manufacturing and trading a wide range of fabrics and designer ethnic wear for women. The Group serves high-end, premium retailers and wholesalers across 25+ states in India and over ten other countries.
The group aims to diversify and invest in the businesses of the future while keeping values, sustainability and impact at its core by leveraging technology, people and ecosystems. The group’s mission is to build and invest in sustainable and impactful businesses across the globe.
An Angel on a Grand Mission
Rachit is on a purposeful mission of impacting millions of people through his portfolio ventures. He is leading IVY Growth Associates as a founding partner to work on this mission. It is a Micro VC and Angel Network with 300+ Angels in the community aiming to create an impact in the global startup ecosystem with over 40+ investments across sectors like Edtech, EV, Agritech, SAAS, D2C, FinTech etc. and stages from Pre Seed to Series A funding rounds.
Mega Startup Summit 21 by 72 at Surat: On this mission, under Rachit’s craftsmanship, who is also the Co-founder of IVY Growth Associates, an incubation and startup ecosystem network in collaboration with Sapio Analytics, an AI solutions firm, held a three-day mega startup summit called 21 by 72 from 17th-19th June at Avadh Utopia, at Surat, Gujarat. More than 200 entrepreneurs and 8000 global attendees participated in the summit, which was a humongous success.
Rachit shares, “21 By 72 was our first-ever summit in Surat with the mission to establish the city as a thriving startup hub in India. We planned our summit around multiple activities like panel discussions, networking dinners, and startup pitches to offer investors and entrepreneurs plenty of opportunities to interact and network with each other.”
All in all, during the summit, investors awarded $500K to the startup firms like Sapio Analytics, Gorilla Link, a space-tech startup based in Israel, CarDekho, and Swytchd etc.
Rachit says proudly, “We are overwhelmed by the positive responses we received,” adding, “With some even hailing it as the city’s most prestigious startup event ever held. Above all, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Bhagwat Karad, and Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, had noticed and praised our efforts. And it has given a massive boost to our team’s spirit.”
Rachit has also personally invested in 15+ Startups and partnered with companies across the value chain of venture capital like Incubator, Accelerator, Angel Network, Micro Funds, AIF Fund, and Investment Banking Firm. Rachit has been recognised by Times 40U40 Surat award and Indian Achievers Award 2021 for Young Entrepreneur and also has been featured in YourStory, BusinessWorld, BW Disrupt, Business Standard, Economic Times, VCCircle, TOI.
Learning the Trade
Rachit has pursued his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Wolverhampton in BA(Hons.) Business management at Mumbai campus and the University of Westminster, London in M. Sc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Enterprise Development, respectively.
Further, he has also accomplished an Executive Education Alumni status from London Business School. He is an enthusiastic learner who has also accomplished several short courses from some of the prestigious institutes across the world like the University of Oxford, SPJIMR, IIM-A, HBS Online, Product School and Draper University. He is proactive in attending and organising startup conferences and events globally.
Honing the Craft
He takes pride in being a member of some of the most prominent global organisations like Forbes Business Council, Corporate Connections, TiE, Della Leaders Club Mumbai and Institute of Directors London. He is very passionate about travelling. He has travelled to 24 countries. He is an adventure seeker with achievements in scuba dive and sky diving. He loves reading, singing, researching and working with teams. He believes in creating meaningful relationships, challenging the status quo and living extraordinary experiences driven by values.
A Master of Many Arts
Rachit Fashion Pvt Ltd has emerged as one of the leading manufacturers of bridal and party wear in the surrounding area. Rachit states, “Our main focus on quality and awareness towards the market trends has earned us an esteemed clientele throughout India and a number of other countries across the world.”
Rachit Creations Pvt Ltd. leads in the manufacturing of dyed fabric of a wide range, including Jacquard, Net, Georgette, Chiffon and Crepe. Rachit Industries Pvt Ltd excels in weaving. “We have incorporated the use of world-class infrastructure and the production of a vast array of flawless grey fabrics,” concludes Rachit.
