2016: The Scale Begins

The team grew.

50 → 200+

And a new name appeared:

iB Hubs.

Now it wasn’t just a group.

It was an ecosystem.

An incubator. An accelerator. A movement.

The Missing Product

There was just one gap.

Still no major product.

Gen 1 Funding – Trust Becomes Money

And yet—funding began.

Not from VCs.

From people.

Families. Friends. Personal networks.

The pitch:

• IIT/NIT team
• Big vision
• Early-stage entry

The hook:

No solid product.

No detailed roadmap.

But strong belief.

The Second Ask

Later:

And people complied.

Because this wasn’t just investing.

It felt like participation.

The Internal System

Structure tightened:

• Tatha at the top
• Core team (LEMONS)
• Everyone else

Meetings intensified.

Public criticism became normal.

Pressure became culture.

The Investor Pipeline

Another system ran quietly:

Employees were encouraged to:

• Bring parents
• Pitch the vision
• Convert belief into investment

Especially targeting middle-income families.

Because trust scales faster than logic.

Public Validation

2016 gave visibility.

Events. Showcases.

And then—

A major launch.

With high-level government presence.

Now, the story had credibility.

The 30-Day Sprint

Demonetisation hit.

Opportunity.

The team:

• Built digital payment solutions
• Worked day and night
• Pushed hard for 30 days

Then suddenly—

The project disappeared.

No explanation.

What This Phase Built

Not products.

But:

• A strong belief system
• A scalable people engine
• A funding model based on trust

And the first cracks of unanswered questions.