We have all read about several start-up founders and their life struggles in making their start-ups successful. In today’s era, investment is a new source of entrepreneurship. One such example is Abhishek Agarwal.
Abhishek, as a research analyst would track stocks and the market but was totally clueless about the journey ahead. The entrepreneur within him said that the money he is earning wasn’t adding any value, and he yearned for more..
Well, this is how he chose to satisfy the yearning and made a ‘Rock’stud Capital with a mere amount of Rs 10 Lakh
How it all started?
After graduating in commerce from Mumbai, Abhishek went to Lancaster University in the UK for further studies in finance. Returned to India in 2007 to work in a stock broking firm.
A few years later, Abhishek started off by running Fortune Interfinance, which was owned by his family and had a broking license, as a research firm. In 2014, he had tripled his father’s money after 3 years of investing in the stock market. Abhishek had now decided to try his hands at investing.
Investing in Start-Ups:
Seeing the rise of Flipkart and Snapdeal, Abhishek dreamt of investing in start-ups and saw it as a great asset class to invest in, provided he could bet on the idea and the entrepreneur. Next, Abhishek borrowed ₹2 crore from his father to invest.
Following this, he went to the Indian Angel Network and sought to join the network since he believed that most of the VC world is built on connections and networks. Abhishek began by investing ₹10 lakhs in Kwench Library Solutions. He also invested in companies like Truckola, Insense, Loginext, Wellness, Forever, 6Degrees, Wishberry, Growfitter, and Insense.
By 2017, he had already invested ₹3.25 crores in 24 start-ups, with a value ranging of one ranging from ₹10 lakhs to ₹30 lakhs.
Investment in Rockstud Capital:
Abhishek always wanted to rise and wanted to become a fund. In 2018, he applied to become a SEBI registered AIF Category 2 fund and in the same year in September he set up a registered fund named Rockstud Capital.
This fund allows investments in equities up to 49 percent of the fund size and the rest in unlisted companies. The fund size applied for was $25 million and currently, Abhishek has received commitments of ₹20 crore, of which some money has already been invested.
Success Mantra:
“I simply believe that just like equities and bonds, one can also invest in start-ups because, in the end, it’s a risk… I believe in a balance between stockbroking and start-up investing,” says Abhishek when asked how he made his investments.
This is the story of Abhishek Agarwal and his investing career. Who says investments can’t give you enough money? He proved the right strategy and the right timing can make you successful in any field.
