Vivek Raina, Co-Founder and CEO of Excitel Broadband a home-internet startup has launched an incubation fund called "Launchpad Kashmir," aiming to transform the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Vivek with six others, Muheet Mehraj, Founder of Kashmir Box, Khalid Wani, Sr Director at Western Digital, Namrata Kaul, Director at Vivirti Capital, Kunal Harisinghani, CCO of FlapKap, Ishfaq Mir, Co-Founder of Kashmir Box and Dawood Khan, Principal Engineer, Thndr aims to support aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage startups with essential resources and mentorship to accelerate their growth. Launchpad Kashmir will focus on early-stage startups based in Jammu and Kashmir.
With an average investment ranging from Rs 20 lakhs to Rs 25 lakhs, Launchpad Kashmir aims to fund and incubate 24 startups by FY25. The initiative will take them from the ideation stage to the seed funding round. Additionally, Launchpad Kashmir will facilitate connections between entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and angel investors to help scale their businesses.
Commenting on the announcement Vivek Raina, Co-Founder and Mentor of Launchpad Kashmir and Co-founder and CEO of Excitel said, "Kashmir is my Home and therefore it holds a special place in my heart. Last year, during a visit, I met my co-founders, and that meeting led to an exchange of ideas and a shared passion for creating a meaningful impact for the people back home. From our interactions with the budding startup community in Jammu and Kashmir we understood that while these entrepreneurs have immense potential for local businesses and solutions, they face significant challenges in training and mentorship on how to take those ideas or solutions to the national and global level. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to start this initiative. We look forward to building a larger, sustainable ecosystem that can truly transform startup opportunities in the region."
Launchpad Kashmir is a sector-agnostic initiative designed to provide entrepreneurs with all the necessary support for building and scaling their startups. This support includes space, mentorship, training, and funds for proof of concept. The initiative aims to help build startups in and beyond Jammu and Kashmir.
Commenting on the launch Muheet Mehraj, Founder of Launchpad Kashmir said ”As someone who has been deeply involved in the startup ecosystem of J&K for 13+ years, my experience with Kashmir Box has given me deeper insights into the challenges faced by local entrepreneurs both intellectual and financial. Although there are some incubators largely set up by educational institutions, however, Launchpad is founded by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs.
