POD is owned by crowdpouch Ventures Services Pvt. Ltd is a fundraising platform for the startups where they get investors to fundraise for  the early stage company through campaigns and they connect startups with angel investors, HNI’s, and VC’s. Startup Reporter recently conducted an interview with Mr. Vittal Ramakrishna, CEO and Founder, POD.
With what mission and objectives, the company was set up?
The inception of POD was driven by the experience of the founders, Vittal Ramakrishna and Neelendra Nath, who were looking to invest in early stage startups in India and elsewhere. While in the Western markets Equity Investment in Startups are quite mature and relatively easier for retail investors, investment through private placement process was a cumbersome practice in India. This understanding, coupled with the growing internet penetration and interest of retail investors to look beyond conventional financial investment opportunities motivated the founding of POD.
How does the platform work? And what are the procedures for fundraising?
POD is a full-stack fundraising platform which is designed to make startup fundraising seamless and transparent. POD provides access to a large pool of potential investors, as well as a suite of tools and resources to empower startups with their fundraising efforts.
Here are the steps that entail raising funds on www.podworld.in
- Create a startup profile
- KYC Verification
- Pitch deck submission & funding details
- Review & Approval of Pitch Deck
- Fixing a fundraising goal
- Launch of fundraising campaign
- Finalize Investors from POD’s Network
- Compliance & Filing
- Agreement & Investment
- Campaign Closure
- Follow Up & Updates
How does the company get benefits while raising funds?
POD is a full stack fundraising platform in the making and is working towards building an ecosystem that makes startup fundraising seamless and transparent, in addition to providing retail investors the opportunity to invest in promising startup deals.
Startups are the future of India and their success can only be achieved by combining technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, there should be more people who are willing to invest in the success of startups instead of just going for profit sharing deals. This is where POD comes into play by providing retail investors with an opportunity to invest in promising startups at affordable ticket sizes and empowering startups to successfully raise funds.
What are the criteria and what sector can participate in fundraising?
Currently, only the business entities that are registered with a Registrar of Companies in India under the Companies Act can participate in fundraising on POD. There is no restriction on sector or type, although before approving to raise funds POD carries a stringent due diligence process and does multiple referral checks.
What’s the minimum amount of investment one can start with on POD, please explain the process?
The minimum amount one can invest through POD is ₹20,000/-.
The process is as follows:
- Create Profile: An investor needs to begin his investing journey by creating a profile on POD.
- Take Assessment Test: Before becoming an investor on POD, investors have to answer a questionnaire to verify their understanding of investment risks in startups.
- KYC Verification: Once the KYC of the investor is successfully verified, they will be onboarded on POD and get access to vetted startups to invest in.
- Invest in Startups: Once the investor finds a startup that’s aligned with his/her vision and interest on the “Invest” page, they can go right ahead and invest with a single click.
How is POD disrupting the industry and other fundraising platforms available in the market?
Platforms like POD are set to disrupt the industry by harnessing the potential and making the most of both ends of the ecosystem – entrepreneurs and retail investors. Quality startups, trustworthy and transparent operations backed by enhanced technology—coming together to create an investment experience par excellence is what sets POD apart from other players.
Moreover, the startup gets a digital-first approach in the entire process of fundraising. And most importantly traditional fundraising usually takes up to 3 months or more. However, the end-to-end fundraising cycle on podworld.in is completed in as little as 3 weeks.
Furthermore, there is a stellar Investment Relations team that extends support to both startups and investors throughout their association with POD.
Who can one become an investor on POD World?
Any Indian citizen who is 21 years of age and above and has a significant understanding/ knowledge of investment can choose to become an investor at our platform.
How can investors track the performance/progress of the startups they invested in?
POD ensures a transparent and trustworthy platform for investors by providing:
- A simplified interface: POD has a simple, easy to use – easy to comprehend interface that makes it comfortable for investors to use the platform. The interface is designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate.
- A portfolio management system: POD provides investors with a portfolio management system that helps them view all their investments, related documents and updates in one place, a comprehensive dashboard.
The use of technology has made it possible for POD to provide a platform that is easy to use, secure, and reliable.
Will the team at POD also offer advice on how to yield the maximum return on investments? Or point an investor towards the most promising startups?
The team at POD takes full responsibility to provide its investors with all the information related to the startup which will enable investors to make an informed decision. The startup is screened, all the document checks and due diligence is done and an internal 10-point metric is applied to ensure the startup qualifies for fundraising.
However, once that’s done the investors are liable for all their investment and investment choices, and POD will steer clear of any advisory services at all times. All startups on POD are promising ones – so there is no question of pointing investors towards any one startup on the platform.
What does the POD’s business roadmap look like for the year 2023?
The primary focus for POD in 2023 is to make the platform all comprehensive thus increasing the value for both sides of users – startups and investors, which the founders believe will lead to larger fundraising activity to happen though the platform. POD will continue to innovate and develop new features that make it easier for startups to raise funds and for investors to find startups to invest in. Some potential new features could include:
- Enable startups to build and manage their organization directly on the platform.
- Digitize all the documentation processes to make it easy for businesses to be compliant.
- Improve investors’ capability to manage their portfolio and actively engage with their investee companies.
