Favcy Venture Builders: Building Beyond the Metros – Lessons from Hubli

Back in February 2024, two Favcy Venture Builders partners stood in front of a packed room in Hubli, Karnataka — a tier-2 city that’s fast becoming one of India’s most underrated startup nurseries. It was the 6th Startup Dialogue hosted by Deshpande Startups, and Favcy’s presence was more than symbolic. It was strategic.

Yamika Mehra, Partner at Favcy VB, joined a panel on “Building & Scaling Startups Beyond Urban India,” while Ragini Sharma, Associate Partner, led a workshop on “Validating Your Idea and Raising Seed Capital.” Together, they represented a mindset shift that Favcy VB had already begun executing: taking structured venture building into overlooked markets.

A year later, where do we stand?

As of July 2025, Favcy Venture Builders has co-built over 40+ startups, with an increasing share emerging from non-metro markets. The idea that innovation is confined to Bengaluru or Gurugram is outdated. The real momentum is happening quietly in places like Hubli, Indore, Jaipur, and Kochi — and Favcy VB has had a front-row seat.

The venture building model — long dominated by metro-first thinking — is now decentralizing. And for good reason.

Why Tier-2 India Matters More Than Ever in 2025

According to a July 2025 report by NASSCOM and Blume Ventures, over 60% of new early-stage startup registrations in India in the last 12 months came from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The triggers?

• Improved digital infrastructure

• Remote-first work cultures

• Increased local startup mentorship

• Stronger early-stage capital access via platforms like Favcy VB and 1stCheque

Add to that the cost advantage — lower operational expenses, less competition for talent, and tighter community-based networks — and you’ve got the perfect petri dish for sustainable startup growth.

Favcy’s venture-building infrastructure — from shared tech stacks to GTM frameworks — gives these founders what they often lack: speed, structure, and strategic backing.

Revisiting Hubli: More Than Just a Footnote

What happened at Hubli in 2024 wasn’t just a regional outreach initiative. It marked a philosophical shift.

It was about proving that Favcy’s playbooks — built and tested in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru — could travel, adapt, and scale in cities where startup failure is often tied to lack of guidance, not lack of ambition.

Workshops like Ragini’s have since been replicated in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Coimbatore, with cohorts of early-stage founders going on to:

• Join Favcy’s Idea Validation Programs

• Co-build companies with shared operational leverage

• Successfully raise seed capital through 1stCheque syndicates

  
  

It’s a repeatable model, and it’s working.

What’s Happening Now: Mid-2025 Update

Fast-forward to July 2025 — Favcy VB has doubled down on:

• Decentralized founder scouting

• Sector-specific validation sprints (especially in AgriTech, B2B SaaS, and local D2C)

• Hybrid venture-building formats, enabling founders across India to work with Favcy without relocating

Simultaneously, 1stCheque by Favcy has built a 6000+ strong community of angel investors — many from Tier-1 cities now funding Tier-2 founders. This cross-pollination is not just funding innovation — it’s democratizing it.

Looking Ahead

India’s next wave of unicorns will not be built in startup cafés alone. They’ll come from garage studios in Jaipur, co-working clusters in Madurai, and incubators in Raipur — if they’re given the right structure and support.

Favcy Venture Builders isn’t just betting on that future — it’s actively designing it.

The dialogue that began in Hubli over a year ago is still unfolding — and the momentum shows no signs of slowing down.