Anoop Ambika, the CEO of Kerala Startup Mission, the State government organization responsible for entrepreneurship promotion and incubation operations, claims that only one start-up from Kerala has raised a red flag a few days after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) went bankrupt.
The founder of the startup has accounts with SVB along with other of his Indian peers. He has much more than $250,000 stored there, which exceeds the amount US regulators who shut down the bank claimed would be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Worried over salary payouts
According to Ambika, the startup’s founder is concerned about the salaries that must be paid out the following month. He hastened to clarify, though, that the CEO had not hurried to Startup Mission with an SOS call. The subject had recently come up in a casual discussion he had with the startup founder.
“Up until now, no other startup has contacted Startup Mission with an SOS call. We are monitoring the situation as it develops. Let’s simply say that there isn’t yet a panic. Our plan of things does not include bridge loans or any other kind of working capital assistance, Ambika responded to a query.
No credible information on startups
The number of start-ups exposed to SVB or registered with the US-based Y Combinator accelerator, which has developed a new model for investing in early stage start-ups, is not easily available information to the Startup Mission. According to Ambika, some of the well-known, substantial venture capital funds are believed to have significant exposures to the defunct bank.
A Kerala-born angel investor who now resides in Mumbai told business line that he was unaware of any affected start-ups in the state. But some of the businesses I am aware of are in crisis mode. At least one secured funding in SVB just last week after raising $100 million in the US. The subsequent crisis may result in layoffs at that company, he said.
