A startup needs to find balance between growth and profitability: Sanchi Connect’s Sunil Shekhawat

Sanchi Connect was conceived as a community platform two years ago, aimed at facilitating meaningful connections among deep tech early-stage founders with the institutional funds ecosystem. Sunil Shekhawat, the founder behind Sanchi Connect, says what began as a modest endeavor has evolved into something far more expansive. Today, the community claims to have mobilized over Rs 60 crore of investments in startups within the community.
Shekhawat says he has plans to get deeper into the SME ecosystems of prominent markets across Europe, Japan, Singapore, Southeast Asia (SEA), and the MENA region. The company’s recent collaboration with Europe’s Orlen Group innovation accelerator, Shekhawat says, underscores its commitment to working with global energy and sustainability-focused startups. In India, it works with innovation brands like NASSCOM Deeptech, T-Hub, and various IITs, as well as corporate innovation programs.

In a conversation with ET Digital, Shekhawat talks about the flourishing community program, why it is different and how it supports pre-seed and seed stage companies. Edited excerpts.

Economic Times (ET): What was the idea behind starting Sanchi Connect and what did it want to achieve?
Sunil Shekhawat (SS): Sanchi Connect was started with an idea of contributing to the journey of early-stage startups using deep and emerging technologies. Our journey started as a phygital community with in-person meetups on top of a digital platform, which was proprietary to us. In the past two, we have become the largest one in the country, with over 2000 members, of which one-third are active on a monthly basis.

ET: What does Sanchi Connect provide to startups and entrepreneurs?
SS: An ecosystem is something which adds tremendous value to the individual journey which, at times, founders don’t realize. Sanchi Connect is that ecosystem of all related personas, which a deep tech startup founder would need, including funds investing in them, enterprises willing to partner, mentors and enablers open to support with their resources.

ET: There are plenty of accelerators and incubators in the country. How are you different?
SS: We are certainly not an incubator. In fact we partner with incubators and share the larger community we have created for them to leverage. Our network of over 220 venture funds, more than 150 family offices and over 100 mentors / enterprise leaders is available for them to consume in their cohorts.

We do run 2-3 cohorts of preseed acceleration programs (for pre – early revenue startups) with a couple of VC funds which are directly oriented towards funding, followed by market access. We fund all cohort companies on day 0 and then take them to market in the next 100 days.

ET: Entrepreneurship has evolved in the country. According to you, what do today’s entrepreneurs need the most?
SS: Today’s entrepreneurs are looking for market access more than anything else. Thanks to the government schemes at all levels, that early capital of upto Rs 40-50 lakhs is comfortably available through various schemes at incubators.

The realization that businesses are built on revenues from customers is of utmost importance for entrepreneurs today. Also, the importance of having a mentor with zero vested interest in your business is always helpful.

ET: It has been challenging for the startup ecosystem of late. How do you see the rest of the year panning out and do you think things will get better?
SS: The larger technology industry has started showing green shoots already in the West with job openings growing. Although very early, these are good signs and will show repercussions in Indian startup space as well. By the end of this year, a lot should be on track.

ET: Growth vs. profitability is a debate we often hear. Which is more important and how do you balance the two?
SS: While profitability can drive the show eternally, growth is important to keep the interest of stakeholders alive. Both are important, and an imbalance can lead to an unsustainable future of the company.

ET: Sanchi Connect has inked several partnerships. How will that prove to be beneficial?
SS: Our partner network is our key strength. Today, we can add value to the community because of the elite set of partnerships we have established. The same is true vice versa also, as we can contribute to our partners because the community has a lot of raw talent for them to incubate and support. The learnings from the community engagement gave wings to our tech stack, which is now used by many of the top incubators and corporate innovation programs of the country. We have been able to contribute to the building of cohesive communities for our partners around specific themes.

ET: What is your revenue stream? Do you take equity stake in the startups associated with you?
SS: We have a business which is a mix of product and services. Our program and community management platform in the form of white labelled SaaS has been our key revenue source. Our program management expertise is opted by some of the SMEs and MNCs of high repute where we are helping them drive intrapreneurship among different teams.

ET: Closing the gender gap and sustainability are two big themes. How are you playing a part?
SS: We certainly are big believers of diversity inclusion and a sustainable future. While all past accelerations we have done had a key theme as sustainability, we are scaling our team without gender bias.