Great news for young entrepreneurs! CEO of Zerodha, Nikhil Kamath, has introduced an exciting initiative called “WT Fund“. This fund aims to support aspiring entrepreneurs and start-up founders, under the age of 25. The focus of start-ups aims on various sectors like beauty, fashion and home brands.
Financial Support & Mentorship
Kamath shared on LinkedIn that the WT Fund will provide both financial backing and mentorship opportunities. Mentors include giants like Ananth Narayanan, founder of Mensa Brands; Raj Shamani, a popular content creator; Nikhil Kamath himself, and Kishore Biyani, founder of Future Group.
The fund was introduced during the 11th episode of Kamath’s podcast, “WTF is with Nikhil Kamath”. In that episode titled ‘WTF Goes into Building a Fashion, Beauty, or Home Brand’, Kamath discussed this initiative with Shamani, Narayanan, and Biyani. He revealed that they have set aside a total of INR 80 lakh for the fund, with each mentor contributing INR 20 lakh.
Mentorship from Industry Leaders
Kamath further explained in the episode that they plan to select 10-15 promising start-ups. The selected entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas via Zoom to the mentors, who will then decide on the final recipients.
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Inspiration Behind the Fund
Idea for the WT Fund was inspired by the success story of Zepto founders Aadit Palecha and Kaivalya Vohra, who also featured in one of Kamath’s podcast episodes. They talked about the challenges young entrepreneurs often face in raising capital and motivate the age-specific criteria for the fund.
Addressing Challenges
The WTF Fund aims to help young entrepreneurs who are typically struggling to secure funding. Applications started from April 15, 2024, and the fund will support up to 40 young founders, offering a grant of INR 20 lakh each without taking any equity. Besides all the financial support, the fund will provide mentorship, help with go-to-market strategies, beta testing, and internship opportunities.
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Goals and Vision
Kamath hopes this initiative will encourage young founders like him to take the risk and innovate. He believes that young entrepreneurs are creating significant impact in the business world. They are looking forward to seeing the growth and success of the start-ups supported by the WT Fund.
This new venture is part of a new trend where successful founders are transitioning into investors to support emerging entrepreneurs. Alongside Kamath, several other prominent business figures have also launched or backed funds to help new start-ups thrive.
About Author
This article has been written by Mr Radhesh Tarang Shah, who is a third-year management student at Institute of Management, Nirma University. He has a passion for writing articles and poems. He has experience as a financial analyst, author, news writer, marketer and social worker.
