IVCA Partners with ISB to Announce a ‘Startup Board Member Training Programme’
India’s apex industry body for alternative assets, the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), in partnership with the Centre for Business Innovation (CBI) at the Indian School of Business (ISB), launched a training programme for PE/VC fund managers. The risk faced by PE/VCs have increased manifold today due to the rapidly changing business environment, the increasing complexity of business models, and the sophistication with which companies can indulge in opportunistic behaviour at the expense of investors.
One common strategy adopted by PE/VCs to protect their investment is to nominate a director on the board of a start-up company. This programme is designed specifically to address the needs of such professionals appointed by private capital funds on the board of ‘early to growth’ stage companies. It also attempts to strike an optimal balance between theory, practice, and real-world experience, to help participants better understand the economic drivers of business performance and valuation by enhancing strategic thinking and critical analysis. The programme is sponsored by IVCA members – Accel, Ascent, Catamaran, Peak XV Ventures, Ski-Capital, T-Hub and TMF Group.
Commenting on the new initiative, Karthik Reddy, Co-Founder, Blume Ventures, and Chairperson, of IVCA, said, “This partnership between IVCA and ISB is very promising. PE/VCs over the past decade have played a significant role in supporting and nurturing innovation in early-stage companies. Safeguarding against such risky investments is a challenge and it will be the key to determine the progress of the private capital market in India. The launch of this investment governance training programme is a significant step in achieving one of IVCA’s crucial objectives – to make India the fund management hub and demonstrate its impact on the world stage.”
One common strategy adopted by PE/VCs to protect their investment is to nominate a director on the board of a start-up company. This programme is designed specifically to address the needs of such professionals who are appointed by private capital funds on the board of early to growth stage companies. The programme is designed to strike an optimal balance between theory, practice, and real-world experience to help participants better understand the economic drivers of business performance and valuation by enhancing strategic thinking and critical analysis.
Rajendra Srivastava, Novartis Professor of Marketing and Innovation at the Indian School of Business, enthusiastically noted, “We at the Centre for Business Innovation at ISB are delighted to work with IVCA on investor education programs and advocacy research benchmarking global best practices to help develop a robust venture capital investment market to support business innovation and value migration in India.”
Commenting on this partnership, industry veteran, Sanjeev Bhikhchandani, Founder & Executive Vice-Chairman, Info Edge said, “This programme is a great feat for the private investing community and will go a long way to offer a guideline for good governance and importance of independent directors of a board. Good governance helps to build an environment of trust, transparency, and accountability necessary for fostering long-term investment, financial stability and business integrity which reflects the health of an organization. For India to continuously produce world-class companies and startups, the responsibilities of the board will considerably increase to ensure best corporate governance practices for effective decision-making and risk management in the future.”
It is a 2-day certification programme to be conducted in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi every quarter. There will be eight classroom hours each day amounting to a total of 16 live classroom hours. On completing the programme successfully, the participants will receive certificates.
Packed with eight impactful classroom hours each day, a total of 16 hours, the certification programme will be conducted for 2,5 days at Hyderabad. Each participant will be recognized with a ‘Certificate of participation’, symbolizing their enhanced proficiency in corporate governance.
The programme module will cover – A) Measuring performance: growth, profitability, and value creation; B) Understanding how performance is translated into valuation; C) Corporate governance; D) Collaborating with the auditors; E) Understanding Financials, F) Understanding how performance is translated into valuation; G) Interaction with an Industry Leaders and Equity Analysts H) Interaction with Regulator(s): Balancing Flexibility and Compliance