Now, Indian Tech Start-Ups May Raise Seed Funding From Citrix Systems

By Priyanka Banerjee

  • 06 May 2011

Citrix Systems, a US-based technology firm, has come up with an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to compete for up to Rs. 1.75 crore from the Citrix Startup Accelerator, the company’s global seed investment initiative.

Citrix Startup Accelerator will make investments in early-stage organisations which have the potential to enable new capabilities in virtualisation, desktop and application delivery, mobile devices, security, authentication, cloud, storage and software services.

According to Citrix Systems, every year, up to 12 companies from across the globe can join the initiative for a maximum duration of 18 months. Participating companies will be selected out of five technology centres worldwide including India, Australia (Sydney), the UK (Cambridge) and the USA (Boston and Silicon Valley). Also, start-ups will have the option to be housed at the Citrix Startup Accelerator facilities in Santa Clara.

“Citrix Startup Accelerator is a seed investment fund targeting early-stage companies worldwide. It is focused on new technologies or business models that can extend the company’s virtual computing solution portfolio and contribute to the Citrix vision of a world where anyone can work and play from anywhere on any device. We are investing in ideas and the people who create them,” said Ravi Gururaj, vice-president (engineering, data centre and cloud division) of Citrix Systems.

Citrix Systems is quite confident that a large numbers of Indian start-ups and entrepreneurs will find this programme quite beneficial. “What we are looking for are innovative business solutions using the latest technologies, such as cloud computing where the entrepreneurial team can clearly explain how their solution addresses customer pain and delivers a superior user experience, based on insights into human behaviour. We value the emphasis on solving business problems and simplifying our digital lives both at work, home and at play. Finally a compelling business plan and scalable business model are always winning attributes,” added Gururaj.

The Indian early-stage investment ecosystem has seen a couple of new entrants in recent times including MyFirstCheque (it has made its debut investment in MeriCAR.com, a start-up) and Morpheus Venture Partners (it has invested about Rs 5 lakh in a start-up). Other entities in this space include Grow VC (a crowd-funding programme) and Kolkata-based Seeders which has put in Rs 5-Rs 25 lakh in technology start-ups). In addition, there are organised angel networks such as Mumbai Angels, Chennai Fund and Indian Angel Network which actively participate in early-stage investing.