I faced rejections from 145 investors and 21 banks before getting my first funding: Vinay Chandra Lal

Vinay realized that he was more interested in the tech stuffs and started exploring and acquiring new and in-demand skills like web design, UX/UIdesign, graphic design, etc.

Vinay had a strong hunch that the lockdown wouldn't end anytime soon. He started digging deep into the field of Blockchain and Crypto as it was making much noise at the time.

Vinay Chandra Lal can be seen as somewhat of a “serial entrepreneur”. Yes, you heard that right! A “serial entrepreneur”. From starting his firstbusiness at theage of 18 to co-founding one of the most unique Crypto/travel businesses, Vinay has been a part of multiple ventures. He faced rejections from more than 145 Venture Capitalists and 21 Banks before he got his first funding for his company – Bitcoin Asia.

Born in a small village in Bihar and being the son of a school principal, Vinay was under a lot of pressure to do well in academics, however, he realized it at very young age what you study in school is not what you actually apply in real-life. After finishing his 12th grade he moved to Varanasi for higher studies. The gentle winds of Banaras opened up new possibilities for young Vinay. At the age of 18, he stepped into his first venture, a fast-food franchise named Baozi Momo Cafe. He sold Momo counters under the brand name to small sellers. His venture provided fresh Momos to sellers for a wholesale price. He found it challenging to run the business after a while and had to shut it down.

Vinay realized that he was more interested in the tech stuffs and started exploring and acquiring new and in-demand skills like web design, UX/UIdesign, graphic design, etc. He worked as a freelancer with his newfound skills. After graduation, he bagged admission to one of the most prestigious universities in the country – Banaras Hindu University. While he was pursuing a Master’s in Travel and Tourism Management at BHU, Vinay started a startup from his hostel with his college mate Harshit Bhatt. They co-founded a company and named it Ringel Web Technology. They soon started working on the app through which they helped small businesses and local shops shift to an online mode of operation. They also received incubation in IIT (BHU), however, they had to close their office space due to the Lockdown

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Vinay had a strong hunch that the lockdown wouldn’t end anytime soon. He started digging deep into the field of Blockchain and Crypto as it was making much noise at the time. He spent hours and hours researching the technology and understood how it works and the ways in which it could be used. He realized that the Blockchain world had a lot of potential. He also realized that by using crypto he could solve a widespread inconvenience that almost all international travelers faced. Travelers often had to pay high third-party fees and currency exchange charges while traveling internationally. This is when Vinay and his co-founder Harshit Bhatt laid the foundation for their new venture – BitcoinAsia. It was a travel business that facilitated Crypto payments for international travel facilities in Asia.

He worked on developing a native cryptocurrency for Bitcoin Asia which is now known as BTCA. He was able to raise 45000 USD through an initial coin offering (ICO) of BTCA all within a span of three months! Vinay and his team later had to shift the successful venture to Dubai as the Crypto regulations in India were still uncertain.

Vinay and his team are now focusing on building two other blockchain-based products- “Vipay Wallet” and “Crypto InShort”. They have also established “The Crypto Launchpad” which is an incubation and support service providing business that helps entrepreneurs and businesses build Crypto and blockchain-related technologies.

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