9Unicorns, a leading startup builder has invested in over 100 idea and product startups, to create a new benchmark in early stage startup seed funding. The fund which claims to be India’s first stage and sector agnostic accelerator VC that facilitates acceleration support and seed funding to early and growth stage startups had announced the fifth closure of its maiden fund at $100 million.
On accomplishing the fifth close, Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Managing Director and Founder of 9Unicorns, said, “Our unique approach to redefine idea-stage funding has led to an increased fund size with several leading LPs believing in our strategy.”
The fund was launched in late 2020 with a total size of $50 million. According to 9Unicorns the overall positive sentiment in the Indian startup ecosystem and the fund’s current portfolio performance has led it to double to $100 million so far.
Focussing on deeptech, enterprise SaaS, Web 3.0, fintech, media, insurtech, healthtech, edtech and D2C startups, the accelerator fund has made investments in more than 110 deals so far.
9Unicorns plans to invest $500K to $1 million in idea-stage startups and, up to $2 million in high-growth stage in 2022
The fund has invested in startups like Vedantu, Melorra, Shiprocket, Reshamandi, Biddano, BluSmart, IGP.com, Faarms, Instoried, and GOQii.
Besides, last year was one of the best times for the startup ecosystem with a funding rush. We invested in 101 deals in 2021 and plan to double that amount this year. We will finish deploying the fund by mid-2023, post which we plan to launch our second fund,” Sharma added.
Backed by global LPs, 9Unicorns’ USP lies in the fact that it allows the startups to tap into its vast Indian business communities in cities beyond the metros, immediately enabling them to go pan-India. It directly allows getting early customers, distribution partnerships, cross-portfolio synergies for startups leveraging the pre-existing network of over 5,500+ investors, founders, and executives in its ecosystem.
Every portfolio company receives access to TopLine Push ($5 million revenue growth via its business networking community), D Day (Global Demo Day with 900+ VCs), C Day (Corporate Demo Day with 100+ corporate CXOs), Head Hunting (talent pool from 1000+ senior leaders), WeNetwork (internal networking platform among portfolio and mentors).
9Unicorns‘ strength and focus is on a hands-on support ecosystem for startups beyond the capital. 9Unicorns, besides investment, opens doors to the startups for access to a vast network of successful founders, category-leaders, CXOs of large corporations, seasoned angel investors, and partners of global VC funds.
