Connecting Early-stage Startups With Industry Leaders and Tier 1 Investors

Startups

Need coaching, mentorship, collaboration, networking with like-minded poeple?

Launching a new business is not a walk in the park; however, the journey has been made easier by opportunities provided by OPEN Startup Connect. We help startups to access resources such as funding, talents, connections, and knowledge.

Investors

Looking to invest in high-quality startups with significant growth potential?

It's really hard to find passionate founders with skin in the game, who demonstrate traction, significant growth potential, product differentiation/competitive advantage, and a defined exit strategy. This is where we will help you. We will connect you with such startups.

Designed To Cultivate

early-stage, growth-driven startups to market success through mentorship and funding.

This program has access to a dedicated pool of serial entrepreneurs, professionals and venture capitalists around the globe who are uniquely positioned to help startups navigate through various growth cycles and funding stages. OPEN Startup Connect will benefit founders in one of the two ways .

FUNDING

Looking to Raise Funds?

Startups looking to raise funds will have an opportunity to present to OPEN Startup Connect Leadership Council. This council of industry iconoclast doers and serial entrepreneurs has a unique advantage - access to capital and resources. Funding to startup may either come directly from the Leadership council or from the vast network of OPEN Silicon Valley members.

Mentorship.

Guidance From A Team of Exceptional Mentors.

Promising startups that need guidance. They will work with a team of exceptional mentors in the OPEN Leadership councils created to offer best in class industry advice and out of the box thinking. The OPEN Leadership Council will also provide guidance to entrepreneurs on product development guided by market leading experts under the watchful eyes of our mentors to better their technologies and lead to market success .

How It Works?

This is a simple process from submission to the final acceptance.
1

Submission
Of The Idea

You submit the idea via form submission
2

Review
Core Committee

Core committee reviews the submission
3

Review
Leadership Council

Leadership council reviews the submission
4

Approval
Funding/Mentorship

Investor and/or mentor are connected.

Connecting Early-stage Startups With Industry Leaders and Tier 1 Investors

Leadership Council

A team of exceptional mentors in the OPEN Leadership councils created to offer best in class industry advice and out of the box thinking.

Atif Awan

Founder & Managing Partner, Indus Valley Capital


Amer Haider

Founder & Investor, Doctella


Amir Khan

CEO, Alkira Inc.


Atif Khan

Co-founder & CTO, Alkira.net


Asim Hussein

Chief Marketing Officer, QuantumScape


Awais Nemat

GM, Amazon (AWS)


Faisal Jeddy

Partner, BDO USA LLP


Fahad Aziz

Caremerge & Forbes Contributor


Faysal Sohail

Executive Chairman & Board of Directors, InoBat Auto


Hasseb Budhani

Kubernetes Operations for Enterprises & Service Providers


Ghufran Ahmed

Vice President, Oracle


Idris Kothari

Vice President, Vasona Systems International LLC


Jamal Rana

President, American College of Cardiology California Chapter


Kash Iftikhar

SVP and General Manager, Oracle


Junaid Razzak

VP - Global Professional Services, Paypal


Junaid Qureshi

Managing Partner MDI


Malika Junaid

Principal Architect and Partner, M Designs Architects


Moazzam Chaudry

Customer Field and Partner Czar, Google


Muhammed Irfan

President, Whizz Systems Inc.


Naeem Zafar

Co-founder & CEO, TeleSense


Naveed Sherwani

Chairman, Silicon Foundation


Naveed Anwar

MD, Global Head of Digital, Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi


Omair Farooqui

Shareholder, Palo Alto Legal Group, PC


Raghib Hussain

Chief Strategy Officer and EVP, Marvell Semiconductor


Rehan Jalil

President & CEO, SECURITI.ai


Riaz Karamali

Corporate Partner, Counselor, and Cross-Border Dealmaker , Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP


Safwan Shah

CEO, PayActiv Inc.


Salman Azhar

Advisor, ExpatBuddy


Umair Khan

Chairman, Folio3 & Mentor's Fund


Imran Sayeed

Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, MIT Sloan School of Management


Kewan Khawaja

Co-CEO, Techlogix Inc.


Fauad Hasan

Board Member, Biopharm


Najeeb Ghauri

Founder, Chairman and CEO of NETSOL Technologies Inc.


Ali Sheikh

Crypto Investing & Engineering


Faisal Aftab

Co-Founder & GP at Zayn Capital


Karen Page

General Partner at B Capital


 

Apply Now


Please fill the form below to apply.
 

Frequently Asked Questions


Here is a list of frequently asked questions.
1What is OPEN Startup Connect?
OPEN Startup Connect is an initiative of OPEN Silicon Valley designed to guide early-stage startups and growth-driven companies to market success. This program introduces founders to a dedicated team of entrepreneurs and professionals who are thought leaders in their fields. The program connects qualified startups and growth companies with Venture Capitalists for funding opportunities or Mentors to become part of the Leadership Council.
2Is there a deadline to apply?
No, there is no deadline. You can apply anytime by going to the link here
3How often do you review applications?
Members of our Core Committee constantly review applications on a first come first served basis. Depending on the number of submissions we may review your pitch as early as one week, however, if there are too many submissions it may take more time.
4What happens if the Core Committee likes my idea?
If we like your pitch we will inform you and send your idea to our Leadership Council with recommendation for Investment or Mentorship
5Who is part of the OPEN Startup Connect Leadership Council
Each Council has at least one VC, one legal Counsel and multiple experts in the industry vertical for your company.
6Will I get a chance to meet the Leadership Council and present my idea to them?
Once your company is selected, then yes you will have a chance of meeting them either in person or via video conference.
7What happens after my meeting with the OPEN Startup Connect Leadership Council ?
If the Leadership Council member or members request a meeting with you that generally means they will like to explore more. Depending on whether your request is for funding or mentorship (or both), Leadership Council will begin to discuss and assist in those. During the call or meeting, the Council member may decide to work directly with you or recommend you to the OPEN Startup Connect team to include you to present your ideas to our other VCs for potential funding.
8Can I ask OPEN Startup Connect to sign an NDA?
No. It is not a common practice in Silicon Valley to sign an NDA at this stage.
9Do you only help early-stage Startups?
No. Even if you have raised Seed or Series A, you are welcome to apply. Being in Silicon Valley we are fortunate to have notable VCs from the Silicon Valley and outside the Silicon Valley that are interested in investing from angel, seed to Series A and beyond.
10What parts of the world does your Council tend to invest / mentor most?
Even though our Leadership Council has no boundaries, however, our presence is naturally more in America and Pakistani Startups.
11Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea?
Even if your idea is similar to the idea we have received before, We will connect you to the VCs if you are selected by our Core Comittee.
12We‘ve already been working on our startup for a while. Is Startup Connect appropriate for us?
Yes. The more you have worked on your Startup idea the more chances you have to be selected by OPEN Startup Connect to be infront of the VCs
13Can a single person apply for funding?
Yes, a single person can apply for the funding.
14Can we apply more than once?
Yes, you can apply as many times as you like.
15Does StartupConnect takes equity or charge fee for participating in this group?
At this time, Startup Connect does not take equity or charge any fees.

Connecting Early-stage Startups With Industry Leaders and Tier 1 Investors