~ To build 50 start-ups in the next three years; with cumulative revenues of over Rs. 500 Crore ~
India’s first start-up studio catering exclusively to aspiring entrepreneurs over 40 years, called GenXVentures, has been launched in Mumbai today.
Start-up studios are entities that create start-up ventures at scale. Unlike incubators or accelerators, Start-up studios co-found ventures and build them from ground up. Their goal is to develop start-ups within their studio and spin-out these ventures when they’re ready. Some of the most famous and successful start-up studios are eFounders, Rocket Internet, Science, Atomic.vc, and Pioneer Square Labs.
Mr Joseph George, the founder of GenX Ventures, announced that “The Start-up Studio has been specially designed to support and facilitate senior professionals who have rich domain and functional experience and wish to transition to entrepreneurship.” The term Generation X (or Gen X) is used to refer to those born between 1965 to 1980 and are now in their 40s and 50s. Gen X precedes the Millennials. Currently, there is no specific support system for mid – aged career people above 40 years in their entrepreneurial journeys.
GenX Ventures has built three unique Venture models. One venture model provides ready ventures where an intending 40+ entrepreneur can join as a co-founder and CEO and take it forward to scale. The second venture model lets an aspiring entrepreneur walk in with an idea and build a complete venture with all the elements within the studio (tech, marketing, sales support, HR, accounts and finance). The third model lets anyone with an idea and the funds to remotely sponsor a venture that brings their vision to life.
Mr George said, “The entrepreneurial potential in India’s GenX is under rated. Owing to their domain knowledge and experience, this age group could unlock tremendous value through entrepreneurship. The GenX demographic also has a very high desire to move to entrepreneurship. However, the support they need is different from that of younger founders and that needs to be addressed.”
A recently commissioned survey by GenXVentures and Crowdwisdom360 (a global tech-based predictions and forecasting publishing Company) revealed that of the 1500+ participants, 92% stated that, if given a chance, they would prefer to commence their own ventures. 45% of the respondents stated that they would wish to do so immediately and 68% stated that they have a business idea in mind. The challenges stated by the respondents in starting a venture were primarily linked to their current financial commitments and being able to find early team and the right co-founders.
In the initial phase, GenX Venture will open up over 40 ventures that it has built from ground up internally for professionals to come on board and lead to scale as co-founders. It will also focus on corporate hubs in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi to find the right aspirants with entrepreneurial ambitions and ideas to partner. Mr. George added, “In all these cities, there is a significant number of people who work at different senior positions and have settled there and made it their base. Through engagements on multiple platforms, we hope to discover, engage and partner with professionals who intend to start ventures and support their entrepreneurial journeys with our startup studio model.”
In the next three years, GenX will aim to enable over 50 start-ups, generating a collective cumulative revenue of over Rs. 500 crore and employing over 2,000 employees. Currently, close to USD 2 million has been infused to put together the studio and backend support infrastructure, create the venture pipeline and to fund rollout and expansion of these ventures. GenX Ventures has also tied up with multiple funds to infuse capital as and when required by the multiple ventures it enables.
Globally, there is a tremendous shift in the approach of the people towards commencing their own businesses than just remaining employed anywhere. Many mid – career people are leaving their lucrative jobs to pursue entrepreneurship. This bodes well for India with its huge professional pool of talent that entered the corporate sector with liberalization and are now poised for their next challenge.
With 40+ role models like FalguniNayar (started Nykaa at 49), Hari Menon (started BigBasket at 42) and Radhakishnan Damani (started Dmart at 45) grabbing attention in India, the wave of 40+ entrepreneurs will only grow with time.
