India’s first and most active accelerator and VC fund is set to present its first graduating cohort

Built on the lines of the US-based accelerator Y Combinator, Mumbai-based 9Unicorns was launched by integrated incubator Venture Catalysts (VCats) to identify the best ideas and early-stage startups from India. The sector-agnostic fund provides up to USD 100K per startup in the first round, and up to USD 2 million in successive rounds with its co-investors such as Surge, SOSV, Nexus Venture Partners, 3one4 Capital, Titan Capital, and more.

“Demo Days are great platforms that provide early stage or pre-Series A startups with an opportunity to pitch or market their ideas or businesses to a large number of valuable investors. It is not just any pitch day but a launch pad for the startups that can put their business on a high growth trajectory. We are extremely happy to be launching our D-DAY in a year that has been very significant for the Indian startup ecosystem, which witnessed the birth of more than a dozen unicorns. We strongly believe that India is on the right track to become the world’s largest startup hub in the world and create over 100 more billion dollar companies over the next two years,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder of Venture Catalysts and 9Unicorns.

“We are super confident that each of our 30 portfolio startups presenting on those two days will be able to impress the global VCs and bag the funding they deserve. The growth of these startups would automatically boost the economy and help in creating more employment,” he added.

The accelerator programme selected the 30 startups after rigorous workshops, coaching sessions, mentoring sessions and proof of concepts (PoCs) that were conducted virtually, in the wake of the remote working conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The participating startups - 15 early-stage and 15 pre-Series A startups - represent sectors as diverse as deep tech, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, EdTech, ConsumerTech, HealthTech and FinTech.

The D Day will see over 100 investors from across geographies that include countries like the US, UK, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The sector showcase will be equally impressive, giving passionate startup founders a chance to pitch their ventures in front of some of the best global investors with an aim to secure a round of funding that will propel them through their next phase of growth.

9Unicorns, a USD 72-million fund, has already invested in 60 unique early-stage startups that have a cumulative valuation of nearly USD 450 million ( ₹3,200 crore), and have the potential of bagging the coveted unicorn status in the near future.

As a responsible accelerator fund and as part of its efforts to put Indian startups on the global map, 9Unicorns will be organising the Global Demo Day every quarter with the assurance that each edition would see the presence of some of the finest startups from the 9Unicorns family.

The Global D Day is being organised with YourStory as the ecosystem partner.

Know more and sign up for the demo day here.