We are glad to welcome Nandin to Superangel team for the next 8 weeks. Nandin joined us through 101 Fellowship – a practical program designed for young people who are interested in venture capital. This is the second time Superangel participates in the initiative.
I am a final year BSc Economics student at University College London (UCL). I am also serving as a President at UCL Entrepreneurs Society (2021-2022), where I closely oversee the VC Fund (investing equity-free in student run enterprises), Bloomsbury Startup Academy (accelerator programme for student enterprises), and Bloomsbury Ventures (training programme for Venture Analysts). Additionally, I have also founded an enterprise – MiLIDS, where we aim to reduce 3.3 grams of plastic per takeaway cup by replacing plastic lids with our biodegradable and edible MiLIDS. Moreover, as a Millennium Fellow, I promote UN SDGs 12 and 13 on-campus by assisting students in implementing their own ESG focussed projects. I was born in India and brought up in Singapore.
During my time at UCL, I have been actively involved in the UK startup ecosystem. By interacting with multiple founders and investors, I developed an entrepreneurial itch to problem solving. The opportunity to fuel and be a part of multiple enterprises that aim to achieve sustainable impact and focus on long-term integrated value creation got me particularly interested in Venture Capital.
If given the opportunity, I would love to invest my tuition fee in an early-stage startup. I came across NayaMylk, which is a pre-seed food-tech startup that has developed a plant-based alternative to cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is one of the most prominently consumed foods in the Indian cuisine, globally. However, the negative externalities of the dairy industry lead to environmental challenges. Additionally, the dairy industry in India and abroad with significant lactose intolerant and vegan consumers has immense potential for disruption. Since beginning their journey in 2020, NayaMylk has obtained Letter of Intents from various grocery chains and premier restaurants. Along with cottage cheese, they are also developing plant-based alternatives for other food products. With NayaMylk, I hope to disrupt the environmentally degrading value chain and be a part of a growing market with global supply chains.
The podcast that I highly recommend to my peers interested in entrepreneurship and Venture Capital is ‘20 Minute VC‘ by Harry Stebbings. In this podcast, Stebbings invites world renowned entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, and other investors to share their experiences and career path. His questions range from identifying the ‘Aha moment’ for investments and ideas to ‘tips for students interested in Venture Capital’, which provides a comprehensive overview to the listeners. Additionally, a book that I recommend to my peers is ‘Jugaad – Innovation’. This book discusses the bottom-up approach to innovation in developing nations as opposed to top-down R&D strategies in developed nations. Both the book and the podcast (explicitly and implicitly) focus on identifying problems in your communities and pursuing innovations to solve them. I believe this is particularly important to build sustainable communities and drive our focus towards the concepts of Doughnut Economics.