Akshat Pande and 10 of his colleagues from Alpha Partners have joined Seth Dua & Associates (SDA). He head SDA’s new office in Noida, where he specialises in private equity, venture capital, M&A, joint ventures, exchange control advisory and restructuring. Author of the book Valuation of Intellectual Property Assets, Pande advises clients in a range of sectors, including healthcare and real estate.
As an advisor for startup technology firms, Pande is watching how the National Credit Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) develops, after Prime Minister Modi announced a 19-point start-up plan in January this year, including a Rs5 billion ($75.3 million) annual budget during the next four years to the NCGTC. Pande said: “Venture debts to startups and the credit guarantee mechanism through NCGTC/SIDBI [Small Industries Development Bank of India] under the startup action plan, coupled with a drop in the lending rate, may see more startups taking loans rather than going for VC funding.”