Rachit Poddar – Uplifting Startups, One Investment at a Time

What makes you invest in startups?

The founders! We bet on the founders, who show exceptional abilities and can demonstrate that they are here to survive and thrive in the market.

Taking his advice, we would have bet on Rachit Poddar, only if it wasn’t unfair since he is clearly the winner, winning the startup industry with his perkiness and high spirits, building blocks to a greater and global ecosystem.

I would describe myself as an investor by profession and a traveller by spirit.

Rachit Poddar, A proud co-founder and Director of IVY Growth Associates, Director of MI capital services, Executive Director of the Rachit Group, Co-Founder of Funding Possibilities, and recently elected as the President of Della Leaders - Surat Chapter, Rachit is on a mission to grow a full stack global startup ecosystem in India, UK, and UAE.

“For me, leadership is about empowering others.”

He believes in creating a good work culture for his employees, providing the freedom to think creatively, and creating an environment where everybody appreciates and respects each other.

Rachit Poddar - The Learner

My father is my role model. I consider him a perfectionist in every way. He spends time with the family, and contributes to the community while having a successful business.

Thanks to his father, from early on Rachit got a lot of exposure. He spent his initial years in a top boarding school and then got enrolled in the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research for entrepreneurship course. It was there that he got exposed to venture capital. Further, he did his master's and executive education at the University of Westminster – a public university based in London, UK; where he got quality exposure to the start-up ecosystem and began learning the nuances in various domains like finance, technology, investment, etc.

“So, when I returned to India, I was very intrigued and wanted to diversify in venture capital.”

That’s when he decided that he wants to contribute and excel in this industry. He began meeting with a lot of companies and realised that there are amazing companies out there, which have the potential to grow exponentially if they are provided with the required capital and growth support.

That’s where I heard my calling to embark on the path that would lead to my growth along with those who envision to go big

Rachit Poddar started as an angel investor, expanding into venture capital investment and now, in the span of three years, he has invested in more than 100 companies!

Rachit Podaar - The Traveller

Since childhood, vacation outings and going to different places for education have imbibed the knack of travelling in Rachit, and now there’s no going back!

Till today, he has explored around 29 countries and 100 cities, and counting still.

“The best thing about travelling is that it teaches you about different kinds of cultures and communities. You get to meet a lot of people and learn new things about mankind.”

Rachit Poddar - The Visionary

Surat, today is the best city to live in. We have strong communities where people contribute a lot to social causes and everybody supports each other. But it’s also the city of entrepreneurs with a lot of business, ideas, and talent.

Rachit Poddar envisions Surat to be one of the biggest start-up hubs at a global level. Hence, for the same, he brought in the concept of the 21by72 Startup Summit - India’s largest 3-day startup summit, where the biggest investors and businessmen from all walks of life come under one roof.

The summit, which was organised in just 50 days, was a smashing success last year as it was attended by more than 8000 people, and achieved recognition from the Deputy Finance Minister of India, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and other big names in the industry.

It’s coming again this year on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of June 2023 with names like Shark Aman Gupta, CMO and Co-Founder of Boat to take it to new heights.

“It was one of the most challenging things for me because Surat was already established as the textile and diamond industry. So, to explain and educate people about our cause, and at the same time bringing people from all over the country was a huge task!”

Rachit Poddar - The Creative Thinker

He loves to explore a person a tad bit more than what the world knows of them and was surprised to know that Rachit has a knack for singing.

“I still love singing.”

He was also quite artistic since childhood, participating in co-curricular activities like drawing and acing at sports.

He is very fond of cricket and used to lead teams in his time. Today he sponsors many tournaments to express his love for the sport

“I think I got this creative side from my mom, who is a beautiful poetess and has come a long way since the lockdown.”

Clearly, the mother knows how to weave imagination into words – into something tangible, and taught the art to her son, who now invests his imagination in creating a global startup ecosystem.