Paul Shoker's venture to help startups hire

Venturefund.com, founded last year by Ashok Mathai Kurien of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, Rajan Anandan of Google, serial investor Paul Shoker and others is revamping the platform to help startups hire people.

Shoker told Deccan Herald that they plan to introduce the feature within two weeks, adding that Venturefund will also turn itself into a social media-like website where startups and venture capitalists can interact with each other. He also said that this would help startups get people on board as very few people wish to join a startup and rather join some MNC.
“In the last 9 months we have funded three startups with $0.5 million by high net-worth angels,” Investor Shoker added.

When launched last year Shoker had said that the venture has an available investment of $93 million from 67 investors who had already committed and targeted to reach $200 million.

Venture Fund is an online introductory platform designed to connect entrepreneurs (looking for growth or start-up capital) and angel investors (looking for investment opportunities). “E-commerce companies have spoiled the consumer with heavy discounts which have eroded their margins, making them unviable,” Shoker added.

When asked why only three startups have been funded in the last nine months, Shoker explained that investors want new business models to invest in, which most of the e-commerce companies are unable to deliver.

“Securing the first round of funding is not very difficult, but when it comes to round two, the situation does not look very encouraging. That is where startups lag,” Shoker added.