Chatur Ideas is one of India’s leading startup enabler platforms (recognized at BRICS International Conclave for startups and MSMEs) – where startups can raise funds, receive mentoring and get assistance with succoring execution strategies.
Along with helping startups, Chatur Ideas is training young entrepreneurs across Institutes through conducting programs and providing them access to its vast ecosystem so as to enrich the entrepreneurship culture right from foundation level.
BWDisrupt's Soumya Gupta interacted with Devesh Chawla, Founder and CEO of Chatur Ideas. He is a mentor and investor himself, and he shared his views on the sector growth as well. Edited Excerpts from the Interview-
How was it started?A few years ago, Devesh Chawla intended on creating a taxi service business model for the city that was similar to Ola’s concept. Being a new player in the industry, he was given advice that made him change his mind only to watch Bhavish Aggarwal succeed with Ola in 2012.
With India doused in the startup culture, Devesh Chawla saw two new classes of entrepreneurs the ones who had the money and the other who had the ideas. He believed that ideas come to people easier than their implementation.
After studying the startup environment, he founded Chatur Ideas, in the year 2015 with intention for providing a one stop solution to startups for all their needs and becoming a distinguished name in the startup industry. Chawla has received prestigious ‘Mahatma Gandhi Samman Award’ for playing a notable role in the startup industry.
What are your unique services or offerings of your startup?Being a startup enabler platform, services we offer include funding and fund raising, mentoring, outsourced innovation and conducting entrepreneurship program for startups and entrepreneurs. We realized social media today is not an option but a necessity and hence we have also introduced social media services for startups to help them explore business opportunities through social media platform.
How is it different from existing ones?Chatur Ideas has an aspiration to assist startups in every aspect, from aiding startups at a pre-mature level to adding lifetime value in them. We render help to colleges, establishments and even corporations. The most unique feature about our company is that each and every client is given equal significance irrespective of their size, needs and various other parameters.
What is your funding as of now?Established names from the industry like Umasankar Nistala, Bhavin Shah, Miten Mehta, Amit Patel, Dewang Narela and Subhrangshu Neogi are the angel investors of Chatur Ideas.
Can you share a monetization model?Our revenue channels come from funding & fund raising for startups, Mentoring, conducting entrepreneurship programs and through Outsourced Innovation. We’ve recently launched Social Media Services for startups.
What is are your recent traction details?We have more than 650+ startups under our wings. We have also collaborated with 600+ institutions and have a base of 1500+ investors which is rising gradually. Not to doubt, we have a tremendous lifetime value of people associated with us. From an 18 years old aspiring entrepreneur to a 60 plus angel investor, we are happy to cater to all.
What are your future plans with the startup? To excel in our core business value remains to be our primary motive. In order to achieve this, we have various plans lined up. Currently, we are working on an exciting and interactive project with the aim to promote entrepreneurship culture across India.
Tell us about your marketing efforts?At Chatur Ideas, we have adopted 360 degree marketing solutions. Our prime focus remains channelizing digital marketing via direct marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), email marketing and social media presence. We also arrange many seminars, vocational courses for under graduate through tie ups with colleges and other professional institutes. We also engage in various startups related events to reach out to more and more people in the startup ecosystem.
What kind of challenges you faced initially?One of the major challenges faced in the initial stage was acceptance. Chatur Ideas, being a new brand in the market had a completely different concept. Devesh Chawla with his never give-up spirit and constant efforts has brought credibility and recognition to the company in the market.
What is the market size & opportunity you are looking at?The Startup trend in India is rising enormously. The market strength of Startups is very huge and so it is a well thought move to rope in and invest in such flourishing industry. According to the reports India ranks third globally for the number of startups. The figures are expected to go beyond 11,500 by 2020. With more and more government initiatives like ‘Startup India’ – This sector is proven to be an important growth engine for India’s economy as it is creating job opportunities in the nation.
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Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
