Founders accuse Venture Catalysts of ghosting

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Editor's note: A funding winter for Indian startups, triggered by a global downturn and tightening of norms for alternative investment funds, seems to have spoiled the party for Venture Catalysts. According to four industry executives in the know, all of whom requested anonymity, the Mumbai-based incubator has been walking back some term sheets and revising deals. Moreover, several angel investors on the Venture Catalysts network are no longer as bullish as they were last year, leading to a shortage of funds, the executives cited above say.  The Morning Context interviewed three founders whose early-stage startups were to receive funding from Venture Catalysts, with commitments in February and March. Two of them say that despite signing term sheets and shareholders’ agreements, the incubator, which also runs a venture fund, backed off. The third founder says the Venture Catalysts team “inexplicably disappeared for weeks” after committing to a round in an email. A co-investor in two of these proposed rounds confirmed that talks fizzled out, though one of the two deals eventually happened. All of them requested anonymity. The founders cited above say that …