The Inspiring Journey of Kansaltancy Ventures: Building an Ecosystem from Scratch

I can still recall being at my desk in 2016, thinking, Have I made the biggest mistake of my life?

We had just launched Kansaltancy Ventures. Most people didn't even understand venture capital. Angel investing was barely a concept in India. There were only 436 registered startups under "Startup India". There was no Shark Tank. There were no LinkedIn influencers analysing pitch decks.

We weren't just building a company; we were trying to ignite an ecosystem that didn't even exist.

So we got our hands dirty.

We ran programs, spoke at engineering colleges, judged B-schools, we ran panels, we hosted podcasts and shows, anything that spread the word and fuelled the vision of what could be.

Then came 2020.

The lowest of lows.

Startups were closing down left, right and centre. Our founder network lost more than 40% of their businesses.

People weren't pitching to investors to get investment; they were pivoting to selling sanitizers.

I will not pretend that we had it solved. There were moments of doubt.

But we stayed close to the fire. We listened. We adapted.

Something incredible happened.

We grew.

We executed an all-time high number of VC transactions.

We bet on online-first businesses that yielded phenomenal returns.

We specialized in founders who were tough enough to adapt, and we helped them change their playbooks.

Fast forward to now, Kansaltancy Ventures has impacted lives and startups from every inch of the world.

From IITs and IIMs to CNN-News18 prime time, to 500+ talks and 51 VCTV shows, to being a Shark at IIT-D Shark Tank.

We have gone from explaining what a startup is…

To creating the playbook for how to build one.

And if you ask me what our biggest win is, I’d say it’s not the achievements. (Although I’m grateful for every one of them.)

It’s this: We made belief "contagious."

We helped others understand that big dreaming is not just for Silicon Valley—it’s for every ambitious founder from Ranchi to Rotterdam.

Because building something that matters is not about being the loudest.

It’s about showing up when the world is quiet and building momentum with nothing.

Here’s to more founders, more falls, and more fearless comebacks.

Let’s keep building.

– As narrated by Tushar Kansal, penned by the Rolling Authors® team. Visit us at www.rollingauthors.com.