Incubation & acceleration for a healthy startup ecosystem

India’s funding environment has witnessed significant growth and evolution in recent years. With a thriving startup ecosystem and government initiatives like “Startup India,” the country has become a hotspot for venture capital and private equity investments. Key sectors such as technology, e-commerce, fintech, and healthcare have attracted substantial funding, fostering innovation and job creation.

Additionally, crowdfunding and angel investing have gained popularity, empowering early-stage startups. However, challenges like regulatory hurdles and economic fluctuations persist. Overall, India’s funding landscape is dynamic and promising, offering ample opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

The Tech Panda takes a look at recent incubation events of significance.

12-week growth accelerator program to guide select early-stage D2C startups

Netcore Cloud, a global MarTech and Customer Experience company, launched its startup acceleration program ‘D2C Blaze’ in partnership with Headstart Network Foundation and AIC-Nalanda Institute of Technology Foundation. The 12-week growth accelerator program aims to provide focused guidance to select early-stage D2C startups and turbocharge their growth.

The program specifically invites early-stage startups, which will run from October to December 2023. Applications for the program are open until 20 September 2023.

Entrepreneurs will receive Netcore credits worth up to US$30,000 along with an additional US$3,500 for consulting and onboarding. Startups can also access Headstart Boosters up to Rs. 5 crores from top companies like – Zoho, Razorpay, Notion, Canva, and many more.

Early-stage startups often grapple with challenges such as securing funding, finding product-market fit, navigating intense competition, acquiring the right talent, and understanding complex regulations to name a few

Kalpit Jain, Group CEO, Netcore Cloud

Kalpit Jain, Group CEO, Netcore Cloud, says, “Indian startups have been increasingly making their mark globally, achieving new milestones year after year. And yet, early-stage startups often grapple with challenges such as securing funding, finding product-market fit, navigating intense competition, acquiring the right talent, and understanding complex regulations to name a few. Through the ‘D2C Blaze’ program, we intend to empower entrepreneurs who are in their early stages, steering them towards profitability.”

Short-listed startups will receive guidance from a distinguished group of mentors including Avadhoot Revankar & Sudhaamshu M from Netcore Cloud and external brands like Sanil Sachar, Huddle;Arjun Vaidya, Co-Founder, of V3 Ventures and Deepak Krishnan, Ex-Myntra. Additionally, partners such as Plotch.ai, AIC-Nalanda Institute of Technology Foundation, and Kerala Startup Mission, Innovation Mission Punjab, Sauce.VC, GetVantage, and more will extend their support to ensure concrete results.

India’s first sector specific Real Estate Portfolio Management Services

WiseX, an Indian Neo-realty investment platform in collaboration with Integrow Asset Management launched India’s first sector specific Real Estate Portfolio Management Services (PMS) called CREAM – Composite Real-estate Enhanced Active Multi-Asset.

It will be actively managed with multi-asset strategic diversification across listed equity, listed debt and listed REITs. It will be managed by Integrow and powered by WiseX’s proprietary tech making use of AI/ML in its overall decision making. The minimum investment ticket size is Rs. 50 lakhs.

As we witness rising investor interest and huge potential in alternative investments in realty space, we believe that venturing into the PMS segment is a crucial step forward

Aryaman Vir, CEO, WiseX

Aryaman Vir, CEO, WiseX said, “India is at a critical inflection point, having crossed USD 2,000 GDP indicating exponential growth here onwards in the per capita GDP and disposable incomes. As we witness rising investor interest and huge potential in alternative investments in realty space, we believe that venturing into the PMS segment is a crucial step forward towards scaling our vision of becoming the largest global Neo-Realty platform.”

A Fund exclusively for Family Offices & UHNIs

Artha Group, which has INR1000 crore AUM, launched syndicate investment Artha Continuum Fund (ACF) exclusively for Family Offices and UHNIs, so they can participate in bridge rounds of growth-stage startups. Unlike typical VC funds, ACF gives investors the freedom to choose the startups they want to invest in. The commitment is a minimum investment of INR10 crore from quality LPs investing through a single vehicle to provide family offices and founders the perfect platform to engage through highly coveted bridge rounds alongside premier VC funds.

ACF arose from listening to our discerning investors

Anirudh A. Damani, Director of Artha India Ventures

ACF will invest in 8-10 startups annually. Anirudh A. Damani, Director of Artha India Ventures, says, “ACF arose from listening to our discerning investors. They yearned for a competent entity to oversee rigorous due diligence, sophisticated negotiations, and post-investment management while crafting their direct investment narratives.”

Fund to build a portfolio of 25 startups focused on global SaaS & digital platforms

Unicorn India Ventures (UIV), an early-stage fund house with a pan India presence, closed its Rs 1000 crore Fund III. The first close is reached at Rs 225 crore and final close is expected by March 2024. With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 25 startups that are focused on global SaaS and digital platforms, Unicorn India’s expertise areas. From the sector’s perspective, the Fund is looking at newer sectors of climate tech, agritech, spacetech and the semiconductor ecosystem.

The Fund will look at investing a first cheque of around US$1-2 million dollars and would then look to invest in the follow on round. As a part of their investment thesis, UIV invests only 20% of its investible corpus to create the portfolio and the rest to back the winners of the portfolio.

We have always believed in the Bharat story as much as the India story

Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures

Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures says, “We have always believed in the Bharat story as much as the India story. While we have invested in startups from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore but over 60% of our portfolio is built from startups coming from emerging regional hubs like Kochi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad amongst others.”

A Tie Up to Support Technology Startups

In August, Venture Center, a not-for-profit technology business incubator hosted by CSIR’s National Chemical Laboratory, tied up with Ansys Software Private Limited India, an engineering simulation software company, to provide support for technology startups. As per the terms of the MOU, Ansys will make available a pool of Ansys simulation software licenses to eligible startups, and Venture Center will provide the appropriate computing infrastructure and setup required. Ansys has also extended support to Venture Center under its Corporate Social Responsibility program to support startups.

Engineering startups in India have demonstrated strong potential to innovate and scale up for both India and the global market

Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President ? India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys

“Engineering startups in India have demonstrated strong potential to innovate and scale up for both India and the global market. The Ansys Startup Program provides early-stage startups access to multiphysics simulation software along with the deep expertise of Ansys staff in solving complex problems,” said Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President ? India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys.

The Ansys Startup Program provides early-stage startups with access to multiphysics simulation software, coupled with high-performance computing to help them tackle their engineering challenges quickly and cost-effectively. Since the program’s inception, over 1,950 startups from 58 countries have joined the program, spanning the autonomous, high-tech, energy, aerospace and defense, automotive, communications, healthcare, and other industries.

Dr. Premnath Venugopalan, Director-Venture Center and Head- NCL Innovations. “In 2023, Pune is ranked closely with Chennai and Delhi in terms of startup funding, and Ansys’ multiphysics simulation software, coupled with high-performance computing, is the right technological push for early-stage startups here to be on par with the rest of the country.”

Plans to Invest INR25 Crores in Startups Across India

Rogue Opportunities, a Gujarat based angel network announced plans to invest INR25 crores in startups across India in the next 12 months. In addition to financial investments, it is committed to providing mentoring services that help startups scale their businesses and prepare for subsequent rounds of funding. It has already invested over INR12 crores in a diverse range of startups, including the likes of Healthy Mills – the Savory, Knoksense, Ayushpay, Parkmate, and Crib.