Nidhi Saraf, the Founder & CEO of Key Venture, helps start-ups to scale up their operations by raising funds for them at all stages.
She focuses on connecting the early and growth stage start-ups to both individual and institutional investors across the globe.
Nidhi started her career with the inception of start-up ecosystem in 2008. She has worked with leading angel networks in India, Indian Angel Network (IAN), Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I3N) and Mumbai Angels (MA). Her association with The Wild East Group, a portfolio company of Mumbai Angels, later sold to Exceed Entertainment, completes her 360-degree experience in the startup ecosystem. At The Wild East Group, they created a Flagship Brand, HRX, a lifestyle brand for the renowned Bollywood Actor Hrithik Roshan and she handled few other brands like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Yash Raj Films and Dr.Seuss.
She has completed her Graduation degree from NM College, Mumbai and earned her Master’s degree in Finance from Jankedevi Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
Apart from running her own venture, Nidhi is an active angel investor and a mentor to a few start-up. She is extremely active in Indian Startup Ecosystem and speaker at premium institutions of IIT, IIMs and alike.
Tell us about yourself, your background and what you do currently
I am Nidhi Saraf. I have been associated with Angel investing since 2009, when it was just starting in India. I specialize in making the Investors meet the Start-ups and vice versa. I get the new businesses funded and provide investors with opportunity to invest in the next big thing!
Tell us about any current projects or initiatives you wish to promote
I am Founder & CEO of Key Venture. Key Venture is a place that makes start-up funding easy and get investors a good ROI. Key Venture is an advisory and unified platform, combining the attributes of start-up support and best of venture capital.
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving your success?
Really there has been no challenges per se. I have always been really focused on my goals. I knew what I wanted and when I wanted it. It’s been God’s grace, that I have always had very supportive investors and entrepreneurs to work with me.
What has been your greatest achievement personally?
Successfully making transition to my own venture has been my biggest achievement. When people come up to me and say that they know the things I have done and they have heard of my name in the domain and come up to me even when we haven’t even met is incredibly satisfying. I know now that what I did was right, that gives me motivation and leads me continue on my path.
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing?
I would surly be a Painter. I love creating craft. I realized that it certainly could not be a full-time career, my love for business soothes the pain a lot. I am planning to go back to painting in around 4 months when the new venture of mine stabilizes.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
My family inspired me a lot. Watching my father running the business and my mom running the household has been very motivating. One more thing that inspired me was the rate at which Indian Economy was growing. I still remember the time when I was young that trading in derivative in India used to happen offline in trading pits and people used to shout in the rings. People said India is not ready with the technology and trust in payments etc to make the transitions. Then there was Ketan Parekh scam that shook the trust of people in the market but look where we have arrived and the situation seems just like yesterday.
What does the future hold for you?
My aim is to make Key Venture, the go-to place to go for VCs and Entrepreneurs who are ready to take the next step. We want to focus only on Quality, Principles and Deliveries. Key Venture itself has an innovative business model and we think people will want to follow the same model in a year’s time. We want to make Key Venture in the space. We look forward that investors see development in the start-ups and Entrepreneurs get traction in investing.
