Analyst – Incubation, Startup India Seed Fund & Blended Finance – Villgro

Villgro is India’s oldest and one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators. We support innovative enterprises that solve critical issues faced by underserved communities. We provide funds (grant/equity), mentors, networks and resources to innovative social enterprises in sectors such as health, agribusiness and climate action.

Since 2001, Villgro has supported 323 social enterprises that have raised over INR 4,388 million in investments, to create 4922 jobs and impact over 20 million lives. Villgro fosters an open culture where each member can express his/her views and opinions based on merits and objectivity. We are a small, but highly committed team of 27 and we thrive on collaboration. Villgro was awarded the Best Incubator title in the National Startup Awards 2020. We are an equal opportunity employer and extremely committed to fostering workplace equity and are proud to have won the prestigious DivHersity Awards as a recognition for this!

At Villgro, we keep the following values at the heart of our work

● Empathetic – We walk in the shoes of our entrepreneurs and partners

● Entrepreneurial – We take initiative and capitalize on opportunities

● Bold – We embrace uncertainty, ambition and believe in limitless possibilities

● Integrity – We are transparent, candid and honest in our dealings

About Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS): Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization. This would enable these startups to graduate to a level where they will be able to raise investments from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from commercial banks or financial institutions. The Seed Fund will be disbursed to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India. Villgro has been selected as one of the incubators to implement SISFS. For further information, please visit https://seedfund.startupindia.gov.in/

Startup India Seed Fund & Blended Finance Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Villgro seeks a passionate young professional to support its work under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and blended finance with the goal of supporting inclusive innovative solutions that have a positive social and economic impact on the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP)

Job Responsibilities: As an Analyst at Villgro, your role will include evaluating startup applications, conducting diligence and post-funding portfolio management. Details of how your role will shape up are below:

● Pipeline Management

o You will actively support the investment committee in sourcing, evaluating, and performing the preliminary assessments of companies discovered through the Startup India portal.

o You will actively support the incubation and impact finance team in sourcing and evaluating companies for debt under its blended finance program.

● Portfolio

o SISFS is a target-oriented startup investment & incubation program and this will include support during portfolio reviews, diagnostic panels, organization reviews, etc. You might be required to provide data-driven inputs for portfolio companies to make them successful. This could be competitor analysis, key areas of collaboration and downstream funding opportunities

o You will need to ensure that project objectives, outcomes, and deliverables are met and that the financial, operational, and reporting requirements of the donor/fund are followed

● Knowledge Management

o As part of the incubation process, you will analyze sector trends, study the impact created, and market or funding trends. o As part of impact finance, you will be required to understand the opportunities and challenges in space and document learnings from our pilots. You will need to build case studies of the program participants for external circulation.

o You will assist in working on the next steps, and pilot designs in impact finance based on Villgro’s experiences and ongoing research studies.

If the role excites you, we would like you to:

● Have a bachelor’s degree – with adequate knowledge of finance. CA / CS membership will be an added advantage.

● To have 2-3 years of experience. While we focus a lot on your learning at the workplace, we would prefer some experience: ○ as an analyst at a consulting or an investment firm or ○ as a professional at a foundation, bi/multilateral organizations ○ at a social impact operating organization

● Have a strong command of Microsoft PPT, Excel and Word

● Have the ability/eagerness to use data and gain insights in an effective manner.

● Be an excellent multi-tasker and be able to prioritise various tasks. We reiterate- we are a small team and we thrive on collaboration and cross-learning(s).

● Proactive in learning new things and applying the same on the job.

● Be agile and flourish in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment, whilst maintaining attention to detail and delivering quality work

● Have an inclination towards / interest in social impact and a belief in the ability of market-based models to alleviate poverty

But remember, these are just the contours of the role as we have envisaged it. We would love to have you expand its boundaries and take on more.

Remuneration: Commensurate with experience

Experience: 2 to 3 years

How to apply: Fill in Villgro’s Centralized Application Form. Villgro alumni have gone on to found social businesses, study at Ivy League and Indian B Schools and public policy institutes, but most importantly – they have become voices of change. We are committed to providing the same exposure, learnings and experiences to help you shape your next big career move. Most of these will begin with some chai-coffee on our beautiful office terrace in Bangalore, or at the heart of startup hustle at the IIT Madras Research Park in Chennai

But remember, these are just the contours of the role as we have envisaged it. We would love to have you expand its boundaries and take on more.

Apply to this role by Filling this Form. We look forward to hearing from you!