Are you a young entrepreneur? If yes, are you looking to get that extra capital to catapult your business into success? Apply now to the first ever WZCC Zoroastrian Shark Tank 2019 held at the 7th World Zoroastrian Youth Conference in Los Angeles, July 2019.
A year ago, Parsi community came together to encourage young entrepreneurs and new start-ups and founded a programme to help deserving candidates with interest-free loans and a flexible payment schedule. The India chapter of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) tapped high net-worth individuals from the community and founded the scheme that already has three They will have the option to repay the interest-free loan within a span of five years depending on their business model. “The entrepreneurship scheme is a joint attempt of WZCC and World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) Trust Fund. As a community, we have never believed in asking for reservations or quota. So, this is our way to encourage youngsters to be enterprising, and contribute meaningfully to the community as well as the country,” WZCC India president Captain Percy Master told Mirror. Before being selected, the interested entrepreneurs had to go through a rigorous three-stage process spanning five months, which included their businesses being scrutinised minutely and personal interviews with the business advisory committee. The committee comprised ten industry leaders from the Parsi community in various fields. “Our emphasis was to select businesses that are most likely to survive among the challenges of the modern world,” said Captain Master.
We, Zoroastrians, even though small in numbers, have taken risks as entrepreneurs, built empires through hard work and commitment and have had a big positive impact on humanity. While the Tatas, Godrej, and others redefined sectors such as manufacturing and real estate, the next generation of Zoroastrian entrepreneurs are likely to leverage technology and of course artificial intelligence to build successful businesses.
Ruzbeh Bacha who was born and brought in Mumbai and has been in the UK for a decade launched his tech startup CityFALCON from his bedroom back in 2014. The company is now one of the reputed startups in the UK and even globally.. They serve clients including the French bank BNP Paribas, Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank, and US stock exchange IEX. They are also close to signing up a major bank in Asia. Their content partners include Bloomberg, Twitter and other reputed names. The team has grown to 30, and they have raised £1.1m in funding till date.
Startup media typically portrays all the successes including big fund raises and fails to highlight the challenges that startups face. Supporting contracts from major banks and institutions require upfront capital investment and also has high maintenance costs. Raising capital as a first-time young entrepreneur with a limited network is tough. The company is now raising their next round of funds to scale the business up by hiring more people and leveraging some of the newer technologies.
One of the most significant impacts on their business has been from Brexit. Most non-UK investors are reluctant to support UK businesses due to the political uncertainties and the volatility of the pound.
How can you support?
If you are interested and can take risks involved, you could support them by investing anything from £15 here to become equity shareholders in the company. You can read more about the business and investment terms on the site. This is NOT a donation, and if the company succeeds, it could provide good returns. Note that your capital is at risk as less than 10% of the startups succeed, and even if they do succeed, the money may be locked-in for at least 5 years. There is usually no dividend or interest paid. Please only invest money that you can afford to lose.
For UK tax residents, HMRC provides significant tax breaks and incentives for investing in startups under the EIS scheme. Subject to your tax situation, you could claim 30% of your investment back as tax rebate and can set off any losses if the company goes bankrupt against your taxable income. Please consult with your financial or tax advisor before investing.
Zoroastrians (excluding Ruzbeh) already own c. 4% of the company, and Ruzbeh owns around 59%. Several younger Zoroastrians in the same age group as Ruzbeh have also invested in the previous rounds.
If you have any questions, reach out to Ruzbeh atruzbeh@cityfalcon.com or 07827830663
Let’s keep the Zoroastrian entrepreneurship flame keep shining bright!
Please see the attached copy of an informative and inspiring article in the Harvard Business Review, November 2018 issue, by our patron Lord Karan F Bilimoria CBE DL titled; ‘How I did it: Cobra’s Chairman on turning an Indian Beer into a Global Brand’.
Join us for a very special evening filled with fun and interactions with “Mrs India She is India”Winners at an Interactive Workshop for Women Organized by ‘WE’ – Women Entrepreneurs’ Wing of WZCC.
Here’s your chance to learn how to make it big in the world of Business, Fashion and Glamour and yet be a Socially Responsible Citizen.
Spend time with Delnaz & Neha and get to know them and their views on Independent Women.
Limited seats available for this event so call right now to register!
Date: Saturday 15th September, 2018
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Venue: YWCA, 18 Madam Cama Road, Fort, Mumbai – 400001.
Participation fee inclusive of tea and snacks is :
Rs. 350 /- for WZCC/WE Members and Rs. 400 /- for Non-Members
ZOROASTRIAN FACULTY NETWORK (ZFN) Joint Project of GWG & WZCC
Dr. Farrokh Mistree has been a long term advocate for WZCC to develop a Zoroastrian Faculty Network that would empower Zarathushti students to create economic, cultural & intellectual value.
GWG represented by Farrokh Rustomji and Behram Pastakia were to find ways of helping students from India to gain admission into foreign universities and address related questions.
After some discussions at the recent WZCC AGM in Bangalore and GWG discussion in Mumbai it was felt that a Joint Project between WZCC & GWG would enable us to attain this objective on a more sustainable and fast track basis. This concept was passed by WZCC & GWG and both have endorsed it.
As such this is to announce the formation of the ZOROASTRIAN FACULTY NETWORK.
It’s Vision, Mission, Desired Outcomes & Initial Action Proposals are outlined in the linked document….. Read on
Mumbai, March 07, 2018: World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce – India (WZCCI) and WZO Trust Funds (WZOTF) are delighted to announce a joint plan to support entrepreneurs / professionals / start-ups by funding selected projects in India with interest-free loans. The principal amount only would have to be returned, over a pre-determined period.
WZCCI and WZOTF would like to invite Zoroastrian Donors to please come forward to donate Rs. 5 – Rs. 25 lakhs towards creating a corpus of Rs. 5 crores to help young people to start-off their entrepreneurial careers or help small businesses reach scale.
Says Edul Davar, Global President, WZCC from New York to young Zoroastrians, “Today is the right time for the right idea and opportunities are limitless for the bold and restless who are willing to dream big, work hard and persist until they achieve success”.
Says Captain Percy M Master, WZCC President – India Region, who will drive the project in India, “With this Financing Initiative we are fulfilling a long time need to encourage the youth of our community to venture into business. Our request to Youth is to come forward with a good Business Plan. We will Guide you and Mentor you to taking the first steps to start your own business. We are confident that this is a small beginning of something big. Please don’t miss this opportunity. We have great confidence in the future of our youth and in the glory of our community. May Ahura Mazda bless our youth and propel them to greater heights to become the stars of our Community”.
Says Mr. Dinshaw Tamboly, Chairman WZOTF, the enabling organization for this project, “WZO Trust Funds, have over the years encouraged, motivated and supported community members to be self-employed. Between 1995 to end March 2017 we have extended interest-free financial support up to Rs. 5,00,000/- to 1,038 individuals at 114 locations in India towards being self-employed in disciplines of their choice. The new initiative of WZCC and WZOTF working together in tandem towards a common goal promises to give a further boost to the Zoroastrian spirit of entrepreneurship lying latent in the minds of many in our community.”
WZCC – I and WZOTF sincerely hope that a large number of well placed, India based Zoroastrians will come forward and donate sums of money to give a big boost to Zoroastrian Entrepreneurship in India. A separate fund raising drive has also been initiated in US and other parts of the world to contribute to this fund. WZCCI and WZOTF also hope that a large number of youngsters will come forward and avail of this offer by presenting well-thought through and comprehensive business plans. For more information, please contact: wzccindia@on-lyne.com | +91 9619165444 / +91 7045225939 | trustees@wzotrust.com; admin@wzotrust.com | +91 22 23684451/52/53 or USA: eduldaver@gmail.com | +1 9083974443
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WZCC is a global enterprise established in the year 2000 and now has 14 chapters established in Vancouver, Southern California, Houston, Chicago, Central Florida, New York, London, Tehran, Dubai, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hong Kong and Sydney. The mission and purpose of WZCC is to facilitate networking, enhance trade & commerce, build the Spirit of Entrepreneurship and thus bring economic prosperity to Zarathushtis worldwide.
WZOTF was established in the year 1995 at Mumbai and has a Pan India presence actively extending support to Zoroastrians in diverse areas of need, in keeping with its principles – ‘Building Confidence, Changing Lives, Creating a Strong Community’.
The need to connect is an overwhelming need for life itself. Personal, Social and Commercial connections enhance the very meaning of our being. More so, when our tiny community is thinly spread across the world, and, perhaps, losing its connections. Today there are probably more Zarathushtis living outside of India than in India. Our future as a community is interlinked with how well we remain connected and be of support to each other.
Yazdi is a firm believer that the internet will help unite the far-flung Zoroastrian community across the globe and towards that end, Yazdi has developed several Zoroastrian Websites. His talk will be a brief overview of these websites and how each one of us can utilize these websites to our advantage. It is about how we can revive our connections, go back to our roots, in terms of religion and culture, our institutions and also how to connect to the globally thriving, living diaspora across the world for personal, social and professional connections. Building upon the omnipotent power of the Internet, let us explore the possibilities and opportunities to make it possible for ourselves and also for our future generations.
Yazdi Tantra is a Chartered Accountant by training, Computer Consultant by Profession, Entrepreneur Developer by hobby and Trainer in his leisure time. Yazdi writes a regular weekly column for Parsi Times, Mumbai, and a fortnightly column for MoneyLife on Android apps for efficiency at the workplace. He is currently Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the IT Committee of Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank Ltd. He is also the Global Vice President and Technical Chair of World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce. He runs a medium-sized Computer Company ON-LYNE for the last 24 years, developing websites, portals, payment gateways, sales and service of computer hardware.
Below is a brief itinerary of his talks during his US tour:
13 Oct., 2017
– Houston
Websites for Zoroastrians Worldwide & their Impact on the Current Zoroastrian Activities on Social Media
Yazdi Tantra is a Chartered Accountant by training, Computer Consultant by Profession, Entrepreneur Developer by hobby and Trainer in his leisure time. Yazdi writes a regular weekly column for Parsi Times, Mumbai, and a fortnightly column for MoneyLife on Android apps for efficiency at the workplace. He is currently Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the IT Committee of Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank Ltd. He is also the Global Vice President and Technical Chair of World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce. He runs a medium-sized Computer Company ON-LYNE for the last 24 years, developing websites, portals, payment gateways, sales and service of computer hardware.