Praveen Mokkapati is Associate Partner at Anthill Ventures. An IIM Bangalore alumnus, he has enjoyed B2B scaling across India and Southeast Asia for over a decade. He oversees operational elements of sales and marketing distribution channels for entrepreneurs throughout numerous startup scaling applications such as Anthill Studio. He also assists corporate strategy and innovation for industry leaders by leveraging the startup surroundings. Praveen joins us in this chat on the vision of Anthill Studio, the graduated startups, selection and services for the upcoming cohort, possibilities for entrepreneurs in India, and tips for aspiring founders.
Edited excerpts of the interview:
YourStory: What was the founding vision of your accelerator, and what is it supported?
Praveen Mokkapati: Anthill Studio was born to pick out and assist in boosting up media-tech startups with a robust ability to disrupt an industry deeply entrenched in traditional procedures and business models. To allow this vision, Anthill Ventures partnered with Suresh Productions and Rana Daggubati – both with solid reason – to guide the startup ecosystem through their very precious industry knowledge and foresight.
YS: What could you assert are the pinnacle of three opportunities for Indian marketers?
PM:
1. ESports.
When Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014, the eSports enterprise turned a nook. Commanding a rapidly growing viewership, the industry has the ability for startups to make it large.
2. Healthcare.
From the several gaps in number one healthcare or emerging boom in senior residents to rising degrees and focus of intellectual pressure and need for early or pre-diagnosis for a vast population, there are numerous possibilities for the clever entrepreneur to construct answers.
3. Travel and mobility.
With a growing middle-magnificence populace, their aspirations, and increasing disposable cash to spend, more Indians are predicted to travel within the coming years than before. Tailoring answers for this phase may be profitable. Given the emphasis on autonomous cars and electric-powered automobiles, the entire price chain presents possibilities to disrupt conventional solutions.
YS: Which startups graduated from your first cohort, and what sorts of IP are being created through them?
PM: The cohort at Anthill Studio is operating on slicing area solutions and IP.
• ComicFlix is a technology platform that converts films and movies to lovely picture novels at scale, printed or allotted digitally.
• Saranyu develops and offers OTT TV/video, digital news, organization video products, and solutions for content material companies, aggregators, carrier vendors (telco/OTT), and firms.
• Woodcutter leverages comprehensive information, device gaining knowledge of, and analytics to assist filmmakers in recognizing how their target audience perspectives their projects, wherein they stand compared to similar movies, and help them with their promoting strategies.
• RecoSense is an AI-driven venture that uses a facts science stack to provide consumer personalization, content material tips, and analytics to boost intake, conversion, and retention.
• NewsPlus brings you breaking news, local stories, and personalized feeds on topics you comply with. Their platform has traction with telcos, celeb magazines, and enormous firms.
• Scandic lets users build, discover, and share virtual and augmented reality reports properly from their web browser.
• Rooter is a sports activities fan app that engages fanatics through stay matches with fable and prediction games and connects with other fans, thereby developing an unbroken 2d display enjoy.
All these have graduated, but we continue to help them. See the video of their Demo Day right here. We are actively pursuing Cohort 2 startups.
YS: What is the background of the managers and leaders of your accelerator?
PM: Prasad Vanga is the Founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures. Within four years, he has built a startup portfolio of 30 agencies throughout India, the US, and Southeast Asia that has grown 3x in portfolio price. He is a Stanford GSB alumnus with over 18 years of revel in assisting senior executives from giant corporations like Symantec, Nike, Nestle, Novartis, Wachovia, HSBC, and YES Bank to force business differences. Prasad also has the enjoyment of an entrepreneur who constructed a $25 million employer within three years. As an investor, he has subsidized numerous successful companies like Medplus, Zanotti, and Tynker, which provided exits of more than 12x.
Rana Daggubati is a hit actor, producer, and VFX entrepreneur. He has invested in tech startups over the past 15 years and has seen the primary-hand effect of an era in Indian films. He has supplied guide services for visible consequences to creating VFX spectacle films like Arundhati, Baahubali, and Robot. Suresh Babu Daggubati set up Suresh Productions (SP), considered one of India’s most prominent production powerhouses with services for manufacturers, vendors, exhibitors, digital put-up facilities, animation, and gaming studios. With around 400 theatres in you. S . SP has upgraded the cine-viewing experience via D-Cinema in theatres.
Rajeev Menon facilitates startups to scale with pace by bringing considerable enterprise thinking to early and growth-stage startups. He has 25 years of revel in and is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach operating with senior management and groups for the profession, personal development, and overall performance. Mahesh Balani is an executive coach with over two decades of enjoying in supporting specialists and commercial enterprise proprietors to acquire transformational outcomes. He is an active investor and has been an entrepreneur in the retail area. He has a method engineering background and is a GE-licensed Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Navaneeth Menon specializes in using operational excellence inside the program through continuous development and bringing high-quality practices into numerous strategies of Anthill programs.
YS: What are the key demanding situations faced with the aid of startups in India, and how will you help bridge the gap?
PM: Unlike in the past, there have been widespread improvements in the availability of institutional capital for fairness or debt. More than capital, early growth stage groups want strategic traders who can assist in turning the startup right into a scale-up. These groups need investor-partners who can recognize the fundamental gaps that are preventing them from scaling, individuals who can provide business scaling support on those unique areas, introduce essential industry partners for marketplace access, and give the right of entry to the or site or purposeful experts who can offer treasured insights to the startup. Startups in Anthill Studio or any of the opposite programs are presented with a majority of these levels of support as they chart their increased story.
YS: What are the selection criteria for startups on your accelerator?
PM: A perfect startup might have its solution established in the market via a successful POC or early customer(s). All companies are evaluated for their scalability. The middle of our decision-making rests on two components: the founder(s) and the center crew on one side and how they stack up on Anthill’s proprietary Scalability QuotientTM rules. Built on over one hundred parameters, the location of rules allows Anthill to evaluate early increase-level businesses throughout many tiers and attribute a scalability rating. Our capability to affect the startup’s scalability is also a crucial information factor for the duration of the choice procedure.
YS: Who are many of your institutional companions, and what styles of agreements are in the area?
PM: Across the world, Anthill Studio has partnered with large movie production houses, generation consulting corporations on a global scale, and the significant investor community. These stakeholders have supported Anthill Studio’s assignment to scale media-tech startups with velocity. Nearly three state governments have progressively leveraged Anthill’s middle startup atmosphere or energetic conversations to enhance specific sectors in their respective states.
YS: What help and services do startups receive from your accelerator?
PM:
1) Business Mentoring.
Based on the SQ assessments, Anthill Studio and its group of professionals know the gaps and scaling potential, which will expand a customized scale-up plan for each enterprise. Workshops on business and generation, intervention classes, and 1:1 founder training are aligned with this plan.
2) Market Access.
The program selects startups whose merchandise has gone through a successful product validation in the market. It actively facilitates startups in discovering goal clients who are willing to offer hassle statements or use instances. We name this effort successful when at least one opportunity for each startup is correctly closed at some point in the 3-month program.
3) Infrastructure Support.
The cohort is offered access to the area and facilities of Ramanaidu Studios, a movie manufacturing and film faculty facility in the heart of Hyderabad. Suresh Productions, a big production house that owns the studios, gives startups quarter access, assistance, and knowledge. In addition, the program has joined hands with industry partners who provide solutions associated with cloud infrastructure and economic answers.
4) Marketing and PR.
Early-level corporations are more often seen in print and virtual media, from helping with the right marketing strategy to coverage throughout Anthill’s PR network.
