Hi guys,
Shehan here from New Zealand.Been a long time reader here and although I had not posted till now, I have learnt a massive amount about the Indian startup ecosystem through great posts from the rodinhooders here!My day starts with opening 4 tabs; TRHS,YourStory,VCCircle and The Economic Times.The startup bug bit me a little while back and so I’ve been busy validating my startup idea and trying to get things into place.
A bit about myself; I’m 21 years old, mad cricketer, got bored of the degree and been wanting to start something of my own for as long as I can remember. So I dropped out of my Computer Science degree last year and went about working on a cricket ecommerce venture which will be based in India for obvious reasons!
So as first step,I recently visited India to get a feel of the country I’ll soon be moving base to. I loved my short stay. As part of my trip,I wanted to get some sort of validation on my business plan from any credible person in the cricket industry. The amount of support and interest I received was amazing! This included the support from the world’s number 1 cricket equipment maker SG amongst many others 🙂 I was also able to get the attention of a prominent investor who agreed to talk to me as a potential mentor.But that meeting has to wait because I need to sort out my travel documents.
Now this is where I need help from you guys.I’m not Indian nor do I reside in India. I’m Sri Lankan born and been residing in New Zealand for the last 10 years. This means that registering a company in India will be a bit complex with visa issues and all those legal headaches :/
I’m in touch with a Rodinhooder who is a CA and we are currently looking into what options I have available to me. Basically, I need to move base to India (business visa? employment visa?) and incorporate the company. While we will have to follow up with the embassies from the 2 countries, I thought it would be really helpful if I could hear from any Rodinhooder who might have been in my situation before.
Also, I’m hoping to set base in Mumbai, so if any of you guys have any suggestions as to where I could look for rental apartments at relatively affordable prices that would be awesome!
Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated 🙂
Twitter: @shehanm3
asha chaudhry
hey shehan,
pls get in touch with abhishek – the founder of mycuteoffice (can find you co-working space/desk) – he is a CA also. so he can answer a lot of your queries. i will ping him with this link.
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/the-perfect-launch
here’s a post on registration in india.
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/the-a-to-z-of-one-person-company-registration-in-india
also, you can ask ramanuj anything about biz laws
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/ask-ramanuj-about-business-laws-how-to-make-money-by-selling-onli
good luck!
sandeep varma
Hi Shehan,
Practically, you will ship in on a business visa, as an employment visa would mean that your business in India has already been set up.
It is mandatory to move into India to incorporate where you’d like to become (i) the Managing Director (without seeking permission from the Central Government), and/ or (ii) resident whole-time director of the company. It is possible to stay put outside India and ‘incorporate’ within India, by simply structuring this such that 2 residents incorporate the entity in India and transfer their equity to you post incorporation (with one or more residents retaining atleast 1 share, and being designated as the Managing Director and/ or resident whole-time director).
Linked below are a couple of online resources that would provide more detailed information:
1. Guide For Foreign Nationals Doing Business in India :: https://www.indialegalhelp.com/files/doing_business_india.pdf;
2. Key Aspects & Procedures for Foreign Residents under Companies Act, 2013 ::Â https://www.indialegalhelp.com/files/companiesact2013foreigners.pdf
All the best!
Sandeep
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
welcome to Mumbai!
If you want to live in South Mumbai (The best part), apartments will cost 1500 US$ per month to rent + another 1000 US$ for a good lifestyle
Shehan M
Asha, thank you so much for these contacts!much appreciated 🙂
Shehan M
Thanks for the resources Sandeep.Helped me clear a few questions I had in mind!