Mergers & Acquisitions

About Mergers & Acquisitions

Overview: The initiative saw its genesis at the start of the pandemic. Covid-19 has had a dreadful impact on several businesses and forced otherwise generous investors to tighten their purse strings. Head Start being a leading start-up ecosystem enabler in India decided to leverage its experience, knowledge and vast network of start-up ecosystem participants to balance the impact of reduced funding with possible courtships between start-ups and potential acquirers/strategic partners leading to strategic transactions. The initiative has evolved through learnings that the scope of strategic partnerships extends beyond traditional transactions such as mergers, acquisitions or acquihires and their many variants. Strategic partnerships can also be forged between start-ups with strong potential to scale-up with strong product/service offerings and more mature start-ups or corporates with an appetite to help in scaling up such start-ups. How Can We Help? We constantly keep a pulse on what our partners are looking for in a strategic partnership. So we are able to provide start-ups looking for such arrangements with the right direction and connect. We engage in discussions with start-ups and understand their business, products and ambitions and try to recommend the right type of strategic partnership. We help start-ups with preparing the pitch decks and presentations for potential transactions. We also provide education and knowledge sessions to start-ups on the various implications and processes involved in a specific form of transaction. Understanding various transaction structures and how best to reach win-win arrangements are key to strong partnerships. We have a strong network of professional advisors, consultants and counsels who can help the start-up with documentation and commercial discussions with the potential suitor. That's just some of the aspects we can help with, we can do a lot more by leveraging our existing initiatives if we feel the need and if it is required to do so. What does this Jazz Mean? What do we mean when use words like, synergies, collaboration, suitor, partnership and strategic arrangements etc: We would like to see and encourage fund based and non-fund based engagements between start-ups which leads to a mutually beneficial relationship. Some examples: Fund Based: Mergers, Acquisitions, Asset Purchase, IP Assignment, Business Transfer, Acquihires, Joint Ventures, Technical Services Arrangements, Commercial transactions involving a combination of product purchase and investment - and such similar transactions. Non-Fund Based: Technical collaboration (project based), Joint development of IP, Collaboration for achieving scalability through free piggybacking arrangements, Equipment sharing, Facility sharing, Resource based collaboration - and such similar transactions. What We Are Not! The core of this initiative is to help the ecosystem. We are not professional fund managers or investment bankers or deal makers (though this may be the day job for some of the volunteers). We act as a bridge between a strong scalable start-up and potential partners who may be willing to collaborate under various structures. We do not run mandates, we do not do this to make a living, we do this to help the ecosystem discover potential and synergies in an effective manner. What Makes Us Unique No initiative, especially within Headstart, is independent of its volunteers. Our volunteers are what makes us unique. We have a very dedicated set of individuals with relevant market experience in handling the transactions as described above. These individuals are professionals with expertise to provide guidance to start-ups on various stages of their collaboration journey. We are also unique because we are just a catalyst and neutral on the transaction. We actually do this from the goodness of our hearts so we will go that extra mile in trying to get the best deal for both parties. We do not have margins to worry about or costs to deal with all we worry about is trying to synergise and collaborate in whatever form possible. Look Out For: We constantly keep conducting discussions involving experts or for that matter our start-up buddies who have practical experience dealing with a strategic transaction. Look out for the invites - we need you to participate, learn and spread the word!


Testimonials

We were looking to get into an accelerator of a global leader which provides great value in terms of go to market but realized we missed the deadline. Headstart with its connects was able to get the organization to look at our company and we eventually made it to the accelerator. I recommend any startup to be associated with Headstart and take advantage of the self-less love that Headstart provides.
Raghu Ravinutala Founder & CEO - Yellow Messenger
Headstart gave us breakthrough opportunity to pitch in front of leading VCs at an event and we met one of our leading VC investor Contrarian at the event.
Chandan Agarwal COO & Co-founder - WholesaleBox
Startup Saturday remained a place for me to rejuvenate and network with other enthusiastic entrepreneurs. We are grateful for Startup Saturday sessions that helped catapult our venture to success
Shashank Pawar CEO - Whoz High
Networking has been the biggest takeaway from Headstart's events. The connections have definitely helped us in setting and running our startup.
Raghav Sharma Co-Founder - Kalaage
Headstart does a great job at discovering startups that can contribute to the development of the ecosystem. I would love to return to this initiative if given the opportunity.
Siddharth Deshmukh Founder & CEO - ShimBi Labs
Kickstart is much needed for the ecosystem to help startups reach the greatness that they can achieve. A little encouragement goes a long way and such initiatives really boost startups
Tarak Rindani Founder - Imperium Global
Kickstart is a great opportunity for startups to meet with investors, advisors and mentors. It opens up various avenues for startups and this gives a lot of scope for startups to grow.
Akash Surekha Vice President - Enterprise Digital Experiences
Such initiatives are a great platform to share each other's journey and learn from others' experiences. It was great interacting with the attendees.
Sarang Panelist - Startup Saturday
Headstart events are great help for entrepreneurs and provides an effective platform. It's a place to meet like minded people and a platform to demonstrate products and get validation. Each Startup Saturday session is insightful and practically helpful for Startups.
Garima Mitra Co-founder - Treelife Consulting
Real motivational meetups. The inspiration touch high after attending these workshops. Be it the knowledge of the speaker or the enthusiastic young crowd. Kudos to Headstart for their initiatives
Sarathy Venkat Attendee - Startup Saturday