HYDERABAD: Stranger Founders hosted “The Funding Game” at Anthill Ventures in Hyderabad on Friday, 9 October 2026, drawing more than 60 attendees from the wider entrepreneurial and professional community. Built around the Stranger Founders philosophy, “Meet Strangers. Build Legacies.”, the event turned business learning into a game designed to open new conversations between people from different backgrounds.
A Different Format for Founder Networking
Most networking events follow a familiar pattern: a stage, a line-up of speakers, an audience and a short window for conversation at the end. The Funding Game was designed to work differently. Stranger Founders positions its events as gamified business experiences, using challenges and real company examples to get participants thinking, discussing and comparing their reasoning with people outside their usual circles.
The event was held in association with Anthill Ventures and was designed for founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, professionals and anyone interested in how companies are built, funded and valued.
Business Models, Valuations and Founder Journeys at the Core
The programme was structured as a series of rounds built on recognisable companies and founder stories. Its line-up included a business-identification challenge, valuation-focused questions, a rapid-fire segment on founder journeys, a look at Razorpay’s funding and valuation journey, and a discussion of how Uber recognises revenue within its business model. A lightning round, a final match and a Business Wheel activity were also part of the programme.
The thinking behind the format is straightforward: valuation, revenue models and fundraising are easier to understand, and easier to talk about, when they are tied to companies people already know. Quick-fire rounds and friendly competition were intended to keep the room engaged and give attendees a natural reason to start conversations with one another.
Founders, Investors and Ecosystem Perspectives
Stranger Founders was founded by Ram Prayaga, who is also the Founder of Finance Box. A qualified Chartered Accountant and CA Gold Medalist, Ram brings more than seven years of experience in financial management, strategic planning and business operations.
The evening was hosted by Kiran Kumar Yerriboyina (YVK), Co-founder of Vaayu. Guests at the event included Sailesh Sigatapu, General Partner at Anthill Ventures; Rahul Tamada, Founder and CEO of Tamada Media; and Smitesh Kothapally, an entrepreneur in the consumer and nutrition space.
Sailesh has more than two decades of experience across industries and countries, with expertise spanning sustainability, green-building technology, investor relationships and business expansion. His experience includes running a technology services company in the United States, investing early in Hyderabad-based space-tech company Dhruva Space, and backing Concu, an urban lifestyle café and restaurant chain. He also mentors an aerospace company, supporting its strategic development within the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem. At Anthill Ventures, Sailesh manages fundraising and investor relations with Indian family offices and overseas investors for the firm’s climate vertical and accelerator programmes.
Together, the host and guests brought experience across finance, venture investment, media and consumer business into the room, reflecting the cross-industry mix the event was designed to create.
Building Connections Beyond the Event
Networking was built into the schedule, with time set aside for introductions and informal conversation before the main programme, followed by a further networking session. The format was designed so that attendees would share a common set of business challenges, giving every conversation a ready starting point, whether a valuation estimate or a view on a founder’s journey.
For early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs, conversations with people from different industries can open up new ways of thinking about product strategy, business models and growth. That is the outcome Stranger Founders is building towards: settings where a first introduction can grow into a lasting professional relationship and, in time, a collaboration.
A Continuing Idea: ‘Meet Strangers. Build Legacies.’
With The Funding Game, Stranger Founders is presenting networking as more than an exchange of contact details. Its approach pairs business-focused activities with direct, person-to-person interaction, aiming to make learning more accessible and connections more memorable.
The evening also marked the launch of Stranger Founders: The Story, a comic that brings the journey behind Stranger Founders, and its idea of turning strangers into collaborators, to life in illustrated form.
The Funding Game serves as the introduction to the Stranger Founders community. From there, the Stranger Founders pathway is designed to lead into Bootcamps, Camp with Strangers and the Stranger Founders Show, building towards The Inner Circle: the ultimate Stranger Founders community, open to selected members by invitation only.
The Hyderabad gathering brought more than 60 attendees into that first step. Founders and builders who want to meet people outside their existing networks can apply to join through the Stranger Founders website.
