ET Bureau MUMBAI: After more than 16 years of selling, buying and raising money for both Indian and overseas companies in various investment banks in London, New York and India, Vaishali Nigam Sinha started her own boutique investment bank, Savant, in 2010. It was set up along with her investment banker husband Sumant Sinha, who later moved out to start windmill company ReNew Power Ventures.
Running Savant on her own was challenging, says Vaishali, 44, a post graduate in public policy from Columbia University. But Savant would lead to yet another entrepreneurial venture.
This was how it came about. At Savant, Vaishali was seeking seed funding for a client who wanted to build a social venture. The idea was to collect items belonging to celebrities such as sportsmen and film stars and auction them. The money raised would be used for philanthropic purposes.
“I then realised that this was more of my calling rather than the advising business,” says Sinha, who is also the daughter-in-law of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
She found the plan to reach out to cricket players and film stars for celebrity memorabilia too complex. Instead, it would be easier to create a one-stop shop to channel the funds to non-governmental organisations. This led to the birth of her website iCharity.com, an information platform that allows donors to give money at the click of a button.
Many boutique investment banks started by entrepreneurs have flourished against competition from both local and overseas banks but Savant had run its course. “We sort of dissolved Savant as other ventures ReNew and iCharity took off and was much more executable,” says Sinha. Last year, iCharity listed 23 NGOs with another two being added this year. What it does is use quasi-government watchdog Credibility Alliance to rate an NGO and its founders.
The website offers a payment gateway at a nominal fee for donors to give money to specific causes. iCharity will issue a certificate after the donation is used successfully for the cause. “In a small way, we would like to bring transparency in charity donations,” says Sinha. Some NGOs already registered with iCharity are seeing benefits. “iCharity is helping us in networking with many Indian companies and international organisations to roll out our projects,” says Amod Kanth, founder and general secretary of NGO Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre. For Sinha, it’s all about making a social impact. “Making money is exciting when you are young,” says Sinha, who’s also an accomplished Odissi dancer.
Running Savant on her own was challenging, says Vaishali, 44, a post graduate in public policy from Columbia University. But Savant would lead to yet another entrepreneurial venture.
This was how it came about. At Savant, Vaishali was seeking seed funding for a client who wanted to build a social venture. The idea was to collect items belonging to celebrities such as sportsmen and film stars and auction them. The money raised would be used for philanthropic purposes.
“I then realised that this was more of my calling rather than the advising business,” says Sinha, who is also the daughter-in-law of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
She found the plan to reach out to cricket players and film stars for celebrity memorabilia too complex. Instead, it would be easier to create a one-stop shop to channel the funds to non-governmental organisations. This led to the birth of her website iCharity.com, an information platform that allows donors to give money at the click of a button.
Many boutique investment banks started by entrepreneurs have flourished against competition from both local and overseas banks but Savant had run its course. “We sort of dissolved Savant as other ventures ReNew and iCharity took off and was much more executable,” says Sinha. Last year, iCharity listed 23 NGOs with another two being added this year. What it does is use quasi-government watchdog Credibility Alliance to rate an NGO and its founders.
The website offers a payment gateway at a nominal fee for donors to give money to specific causes. iCharity will issue a certificate after the donation is used successfully for the cause. “In a small way, we would like to bring transparency in charity donations,” says Sinha. Some NGOs already registered with iCharity are seeing benefits. “iCharity is helping us in networking with many Indian companies and international organisations to roll out our projects,” says Amod Kanth, founder and general secretary of NGO Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre. For Sinha, it’s all about making a social impact. “Making money is exciting when you are young,” says Sinha, who’s also an accomplished Odissi dancer.
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