Raghavan, who works out of  Singapore and Mumbai, has been angel investing in Indian startups for about four years through the Delhi-based Indian Angel Network (IAN). It is not clear whether he continues to be associated with IAN, though he no longer seems to be listed as a member on the IAN website. Update: IAN clarifies that Raghavan is still associated with the angel network. Prior to becoming an angel investor, Raghavan, led Accenture India’s domestic business as managing director of the company. Amit Patni currently heads Mumbai-based Nirvana, an Internet and mobility focused venture capital firm that invests in the early and growth stages. Nirvana is backed by the Patni family, who recently sold Patni Computers to iGate Corporation.

“We had earlier announced that we would be looking at enlisting the support of six to seven angel investors to join our Charter Angels program. As Shravan and I met potential angel investors individually, we were pleasantly surprised by the strong support we received and finally ended up signing up almost double that number,” Ravi Kiran, co-founder of VentureNursery said in a press release. Kiran, former CEO of Starcom MediaVest’s South East Asia and South Asia operations, teamed up with Fame Cinemas founder Shravan Shroff to launch VentureNursery in March.

Applications for the accelerator’s maiden bootcamp closed on April 23 with 120 entries from 17 cities. The final shortlist of between five and eight startups will be announced shortly.

Here’s the list of charter angels at VentureNursery:

1. Amit Patni, co-founder and chairman, Nirvana Venture Advisors
2. Anand Ladsariya, CEO and promoter director, Everest Flavours
3. Arihant Patni, director, Nirvana Venture Advisors
4. Ashok Kumar Damani, co-founder, K Damani Group of Companies
5. Bhanu Chopra, founder, Rate Gain
6. Bharat Banka, CEO, Aditya Birla Private Equity
7. Kaushal Kumbhat, managing director, FMS Group
8. Nitin Agarwal, managing partner, N M Fashions and CEO, Devesh Agriexim
9. Sadeesh Raghavan, Member, global advisory board, Acumen Fund
10. Sanjay Mehta, CEO, MAIA Intelligence
11. Siddharth Raisoni, executive director, SGR Advisors
12. Sameer Brij Verma, vice president, Nexus Venture Partners

HLC was founded in June 2010 as a separate business under Hippocampus, a education services venture started by Bangalore Labs co-founder Umesh Malhotra in 2004. Hippocampus also runs a non-profit called Hippocampus Reading Foundation which sets up active libraries in government schools and community centers in collaboration with government and other non-government organizations.

“The academic year of 2011 was our (HLC) first, full-fledged year of operation. During this period, we worked in 39 villages with 50 teachers and 700 students across two districts in rural Karnataka,” Malhotra told StartupCentral via email responses to queries. The company is currently on a recruitment and set-up drive and aims to start the current academic year with more than 250 teachers who will reach out to over 5,000 students, he said.

Under the HLC model, local teachers, usually women, are employed and trained to coach students between the ages of 3 and 12 at the pre-school and primary levels. It employs an in-house curriculum developed in collaboration with veteran educationists, which is designed to allow children of various age groups to learn at their own pace. Students who attend the center are charged between Rs 60 and Rs 100 per month. The centers are usually located inside the homes of the women who run them or community spaces such as schools or rented premises. HLC pays its kindergarten teachers a salary of Rs 2,000 per month and after-school teachers are paid Rs 1,500 per month. “Teachers are a big priority for us. We recruit less than 20 per cent of applications received. Every teacher goes through a four-round selection process,” said Malhotra. Training follows recruitment and each teacher attends a 10-day training programme. In addition, 12 days of follow-on training are spread through the year.

For Lok Capital and Acumen, the investment in HLC represents their first in the education sector. Delhi-based Lok, a bottom-of-the-pyramid focused investor that is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation, recently raised a $65 million second, India-focused fund. The launch of the new fund has also seen the venture capital investor refocus from its earlier preference for microfinance companies to broader sectors such as education, healthcare and employment services. Read our earlier post on Lok Capital’s realigned investment strategy.

Image Courtesy: Hippocampus

Singapore Telecommunications

While the March acquisition of Amobee cost SingTel $321 million, the size of the AdJitsu acquisition has not been disclosed. AdJitsu’s platform will enable mobile users to tap on advertisements and engage with advertisers’ products with interactivity, speed and animation, said a press release issue on the deal. “With the advanced 3D technology, Amobee’s mobile ad campaigns feel like mini apps that mobile users look forward to receiving,” said Amobee CEO Trevor Healy, in the release.

Prior to the acquisition, AdJitsu operated as an independent division of California-based Cooliris, a digital content technology solutions company founded by Soujanya Bhumkar and Austin Shoemaker. The founders launched AdJitsu in 2011 as a six-member business unit. Cooliris is backed by venture capital investors Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, DAG Ventures, The Westly Group and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Venture.

For SingTel, the two Silicon Valley acquisitions are part of a long-term strategy to gain a stronger foothold in the global mobile advertising market. “The mobile advertising market is nascent and has significant potential for mobile operators who are able to provide differentiated solutions… We want to capture that growth in developed and emerging markets, starting with this (Amobee) acquisition,” Allen Lew, CEO of Group Digital Life, said at the time of the Amobee acquisition in March.

Group Digital Life is a new business division that came into effect from April 1 when SingTel reorganized itself into three divisions (the other two are Group Consumer and Group ICT) to better position itself as a multimedia player. The Group Digital Life division now includes Amobee, SingTel’s venture capital investment arm Singtel Innov8, NextGen TV and ecommerce, among other businesses.

The Amobee and AdJitsu buys are likely the beginning of a series of acquisitions that SingTel will undertake as it seeks growth in newer markets. The company, reports Bloomberg, may acquire businesses in China, India or in the US as it shifts focus from slower growth markets such as Singapore and Australia, quoting CEO Chua Sock Koong. The company reported a 30 per cent growth in net profits at S$1.29 billion for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012. Revenues for the quarter were up 3 per cent to S$4.78 billion, while its mobile customer base stood at 445 million.

In India, SingTel was an early investor in mobile operator Bharti Airtel and currently holds a 32.3 per cent stake in the Delhi-based operator. It owns significant stakes in Indonesia’s PT Telekomunikasi Selular and Manila’s Globe Telecom, Warid Telecom in Pakistan, Pacific Banglasdesh Telecom and Thailand’s Advanced Info Service.

Image Courtesy: AdJitsu

Basix Krishi Samrudhi:

Limberlink Technologies: Online education services startup Limberlink Technologies has raised $2 million from Accel Partners. The Bangalore-based company has developed the JED-I programme to provide engineering students training in core engineering. (Source: The Economic Times).

Cbazaar: Chennai-based ecommerce startup Cbazaar has raised $3.5 million in Series A funding from Inventus Capital Partners and Ojas Ventures. The funds will be used for upgrading technology and expanding marketing operations in India and overseas. (Source: Financial Express).

Image Courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Stylishyou acquisition follows Delhi-based SnapDeal’s acquisition of online sports goods store eSportsBuy last month. Earlier in February, Bangalore-based books-to-music etailer Flipkart bought Gurgaon-headquartered peer Letsbuy in a cash-and-stock deal.

Stylishyou (the website is currently not live) was founded in 2011. The company also received incubation support from Indian Angel Network (IAN), through the IAN Incubator programme, which is a partnership with the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of Science & Technology, government of India. Stylishyou offers designer and branded jewellery for women. Further details on the company’s scale of operations were not available.

Delhi-based Yebhi, founded in 2009, is an ecommerce site promoted by Big Shoe Bazaar India. The site was earlier known by Bigshoebazaar and started out with an exclusive focus on footwear. It rebranded to Yebhi when it decided to enter the broader lifestyle category. The company continues to run a footwear site called Bigshoebazaar, but focuses on the business-to-business segment selling products to shoe retailers.

Big Shoe Bazaar India raised a $2.2 million Series A round from Nexus Venture Partners in early last year and followed with a $9 million Series B round in July from Catamaran Ventures and Nexus. The company’s founders include former Vishal Retail executive Manmohan Agarwal, Nitin Agarwal, a co-founder of online education company Brainvisa Technologies, Danish Ahmed and Rajul Jain. Yebhi currently offers over 150 brands on its site.

Image Courtesy: Yebhi

The accelerator is also in talks with three early stage venture capital firms to partner the initiative, of which two have already confirmed their participation, Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, executive vice president at Venture Nursery, told StartupCentral.

Out of the 120 applications, about 47 per cent have come in from the Mumbai and Pune region, while Bangalore and Delhi accounted for about 15 per cent each, said Sharma. The majority of applications, approximately 40 per cent, came through social media channels, while references accounted for about 25 per cent.

In terms of sector diversity, about 40 per cent of applications are from the retail sector, of which ecommerce startups constitute about 16 per cent. The other sectors include consumer technology, media and entertainment and education. “The typical profile of applicants is professionals who have professional experience of between four years and 10 years, though we also have a couple of applicants with more than 20 years of experience,” he said. Another interesting statistic is that 29 per cent of the total applicants have been involved in at least one startup in the past.

In addition to applications for the 13-week bootcamp, the accelerator has also received two dozen applications for its parallel track programme, which is designed for startups who are at a relatively advanced stage and may not need the 13-week programme.

The accelerator’s aim is to conduct a minimum of two bootcamps in a year in Mumbai with a target to accommodate up to eight start-ups in each program. At the end of each boot camp, successfully graduating start-ups will be evaluated for investment by a group of committed angel investors. VentureNursery will pick up sweat equity in the startups that participate in the bootcamp and Kiran and Shroff are also committed to investing in up to three startups that graduate from the programme.

Shroff founded and led Mumbai-based multiplex player Fame Cinemas, which was acquired by Inox Leisure in early 2010. Kiran led Starcom MediaVest Group’s South East Asia and South Asia operations as CEO and is a co-founder of Mumbai-based growth advisory firm Friends of Ambition. Both are also active angel investors through Mumbai Angels and Indian Angel Network and have made 18 investments between them.

Image Courtesy: VentureNursery

Several investors, including Singtel Innov8 (the venture capital investment arm of SingTel Group), Golden Gate Ventures, Crystal Horse Investments and Jungle Ventures, who attended the event have already initiated discussions with some of the bootcamp teams for future investments, said a JFDI press release. Last week, two of the bootcamp teams, Kark Mobile Education and ShopSpot, have already raised funding from Jakarta-based investment firm Ideasource and an angel group led by Kris Nalamlieng, according to local media reports.  “Our mindsets shifted when the mentors challenged us to think bigger and see our project as something that could go global,” said Sindhu Prabowo, CEO of Kark Mobile Education, in the press release.

The only Indian entrant to the bootcamp, Blue Hives, a Delhi-based startup that has developed Jobs Bolega, a mobile social network for blue-collar workers, did not make it to the final list.

Here’s a quick look at the 11 startups that showcased their prototypes on Friday’s Demo Day:

ShopSpot: C2C mobile app that enables easy buying and selling.

Kark Mobile Education: B2C product that helps parents teach children through digital and physical activity.

Tradegecko: B2B web-based service that provides simpler inventory & order management system for independent brands.

Remember: B2C mobile app that helps capture, store and securely share photos on the cloud.

FamilyKo: B2C multi-platform app that promises better long-distance communication.

Flocations: B2C web travel service that helps leisure travellers with interactive maps and other information.

Fetch Fans: B2B web service that helps brand franchisees reach out with social media, control local businesses and maximise marketing impact.

Trafflers: B2C web service that helps plan vacations with friends (founders in photo below).

Stubb: B2B document sharing service; connects printer to the cloud so as to enable any printed data to be published online; enables easy sharing and access to documents.

Wildby: Talking encyclopaedia for children aged between five and 12.

TribeHired: Recruitment platform that helps startups recruit the right friends for the right jobs (founder in second photo above).

The eleven Demo Day startups were selected for their technical and communicative skills, and passion to resolve problems in a particular domain. “The bootcamp’s focus was on how teams look at customer discovery, hypothesis testing, market validation and development of a minimum viable product, said Meng Wong, co-founder and social engineer at JFDI. The bootcamp was organized by JFDI with sponsorship from Innov8 and grants from SPRING Singapore and Singapore’s Media Development Authority.  JFDI stands for Joyful Frog Digital Incubator, a Singapore-based is business accelerator co-founded by Hugh Mason and Wong Meng Weng, both entrepreneurs and angel investors.

 Images Courtesy: JFDI

Under the aegis of ACE, the selected startups and their mentors will work together to seek solutions to functional or industry-specific needs that the startup companies will identify. Mentors and startups will provide periodic feedback to the ACE on their progress and problem areas. ACE is also keen to assist startups that are not able to find mentors.

The eleven startups chosen for their business differentiation, potential, feasibility and capability are:

Biggest Baddest Parties | Mobile 

The company is developing a mobile application for partygoers, which will offer location-based services and information on clubs, drink promotions, charges and rewards. The company’s founder is Subaish, a student at Singapore Management University. It is being mentored by Elaine The, executive director at Octopus Group.

 All ID Asia | Software

The company is developing automatic identification and data collection solutions for enterprise customers. Founder Alfred Leong was earlier a director at a technology company. Leong will be mentored by Lim Song Joo, founder  and CEO of BWG Consulting.

Arcsis | Retail

The company makes healthier, specialty food and works with the Food Innovation Resource Centre, Singapore. Its founder, Caleb Leow, a student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), is currently being incubated by NUS Enterprise.

Discarver | Software

The company is developing solutions for car owners to keep track of the condition of their cars. Founder Gim Huat, a former telecommunications industry executive, is currently being incubated by NTU Ventures.

Greendot Gourmet | Retail

The company is in the vegetarian fast food business. Co-founders Justin Chou, Zhi Qi, Fu Yong Hong, Leonard Ryan Lim and Shu Jie are undergraduates at NUS and Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) and are currently being incubated by NUS Enterprise

Coordsafe | Software

Coordsafe is developing a device that offers tracking and risk prevention services to protect elders. Founder:Jack Li Hui is being mentored by Hui Wing Feh, co-founder and managing director of ODM Innovations.

Innervative Learning | Mobile

The company has a mobile edu-game application called Econopolis which aims to revolutionise the study of economics. Founder James Chia was earlier a government employee.

Uberquery | Internet

Uberquery is an online platform for deal sites to source products globally. Founder Yow Yong Hui is a student at the University of Sydney and will be mentored by Manoj Sharma, founder of DifferWorld.

Wan La | Internet

Wan La is a financial portal that shares trading strategies. Co-founders Wilson Ong Wei Zheng (undergraduates at SMU) and Maslema Zainal Abidin are currently being incubated at SMU.

Windphony.com | Internet

The company’s digital music score distribution platform allows composers to self-publish their music scores. Founder Tan Siow Wee was earlier a regional apps engineer with a Taiwanese multinational. The company will be mentored by Charlie Sim, co-founder of Renovell and Allied Intuit.

Zinicat | Software

Zinicat’s products is a patentable algorithm to match people to food outlets. Co-founders Thomas Wong, who has experienced in management and strategy consulting in China and Singapore, and Daniel Yap, who has earlier worked in financial and social analytics and project management, will be mentored by Genevieve Heng, managing director of Chepstow Capital Advisors.

The mentors for the programme are a mix of experienced businessmen, angel investors and professionals familiar with startup companies. The mentors will work with the ACE startups on a pro bono basis. So far, 27 mentors have signed up for the programme. These include Adrin Loi (Ya Kun International, Singapore), Boyd Au (7 Notes Capital, Singapore), Charlie Sim (Renovell and Allied Intuit, Singapore), Elaine The (Octopus Group), Genevieve Heng (Chepstow Capital Advisors), Huang Shao-Ning (Leigh) (JobsCentral Group), and Lim Song Joo (BWG Consulting).

ACE was formed in 2003 and the its ACE Startups Scheme which was launched in January. The organization’s leadership team also includes deputy chairman, Steven Fang, who is also group CEO of Cordlife Group. It has recently articulated a renewed focus to build a pool of mentors for its startups, help young entrepreneurs expand their network both locally and globally, and help businesses access overseas markets by developing ACE’s presence in select locations.

Image Courtesy: ACE

The Bangalore edition also involves a partnership with early stage venture capital firm KAE Capital. Members from the KAE team will be present at the event to listen to shortlisted pitches. The firm typically invests between $200,000 and $500,000 in startups in sectors such as ecommerce, healthcare, education and technology.

How the Rendezvous works:

• Entrepreneurs need to sign up for the event. Follow the link to sign up.
• Confirm participation by May 6 for Bangalore and May 9 for Chennai and specify your top 4 choices of mentors.
• Each participant interacts one-on-one with 2-3 mentors for 30-45 minutes.
• Participation is free of charge.

Image Courtesy: MentorEdge

Founded by Singaporeans Min Xuan Lee and Audrey Tan in 2010, the service comes with an annual subscription fee of S$69. The platform allows users to save money, set goals for school, donate time and money to real causes, understand world currencies and explore careers through role-play. The startup recently won Innotribe Startup Challenge held in Singapore last month and will participate in the finals to be held in Osaka in October this year. It earlier also won the Startup Launchpad contest at Echelon 2011, an annual conference for Asian Internet and mobile startups organized by e27.

At StartupCentral, we’ve tracking Playmoolah’s progress since June last year. Lee was unable to answer our queries on Playmoolah’s progress and future plans at this juncture, but we will back with an update soon.

The Playmoolah platform seeks to involve both children and parents. Parents can also participate in their children’s activities through their own dashboard. Lee says on the Playmoolah blog that the overwhelming response to the website proves that people are starting to rethink the purpose of banks and the need for effective financial education across the world. The site offers bulk licenses to schools for students to learn financial literacy as part of the curriculum and is also looking at tie-ups with financial institutions.

For every member gained, Playmoolah claims to sponsor a less privileged family to help them get access to financial education.

Image Courtesy: Playmoolah