India’s leading early-stage accelerator fund 9Unicorns has announced the launch of its second fund following a major rebranding exercise. As a result of this rebranding exercise, 9Unicorns will now be known as 100Unicorns.
100Unicorns, a part of India’s largest multistage investing firm Venture Catalysts Group, launches its second accelerator fund called 100Unicorns Fund II with a target size of $200 million including a green-shoe option of $100 million. The launch highlights the fund’s robust commitment to nurturing the growth of the next wave of 200 challenger startups emerging out of India.
This strategic move demonstrates 100Unicorns’ vision to fuel innovative companies and also marks the beginning of a paradigm significant shift in the Indian startup ecosystem by reducing dependency on international funding sources. Indian startups and entrepreneurs can now have early access to capital within their own ecosystem to boost the country’s entrepreneurial landscape.
In its first fund, 100Unicorns Fund I (formerly 9Unicorns) had invested in several innovative startups that went on to becoming multi-bagger success stories. Notable examples include Videoverse, Trunativ, ZyppElectric, Renee Cosmetics, and IGP, which have all emerged as leaders in their respective domains.
Leveraging this experience and learnings from Fund I, 100Unicorns is poised to scale this impact significantly with its Fund II.
“Rebranding to 100Unicorns is the next step in our evolution process. We have seen significant growth in the Indian startup ecosystem and massive funding inflow in the past couple of years. India was regarded as an IT outsourcing nation for the 3-4 decades, but in the last 10 yearsIndian has emerged as global leaders across large multi-billion dollar companies.
I strongly believe India will emerge as the ‘Startup Nation’ in the next 10 years, with the maximum number of entrepreneurs, highest number of Unicorns & largest employment generated by startups.
Today, Indians are targeting moonshot ideas in emerging sectors like Space Tech, BioTech, Electric Vehicles & Cleantech. On the back of these developments, we are excited about this next step of launching a $200 fund that aligns us to the needs of Indian startup ecosystem,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Managing Director of Venture Catalysts Group and Cofounder of 100Unicorns.
With the new fund, Dr Sharma’s vision is to nurture a pool of 200 outlier startups and propel them to join the billion-dollar club over the next one decade.
The accelerator fund provides funding ranging from USD 300,000 to USD 1 million per startup in the first round, along with extensive product, business & fundraising support. This is followed by USD 500,000 to USD 2 million in subsequent rounds with co-investors.
100Unicorns’ Fund I (formerly 9Unicorns) Details
| 100Unicorns’ Fund I (formerly 9Unicorns) Facts | |
| Investments committed/Sectors | 140+ startups in Fintech, DeepTech, Enterprise SaaS, Web 3.0, FinTech, Media, InsureTech, HealthTech, EduTech & D2C |
| Top Sectors | Entreprise SaaS, Electric Vehicles, Consumer Brands / FMCG, Fintech, Deeptech |
| Key investments | ShipRocket, VideoVerse, Renee Cosmetics, Assiduus, IGP – Join Ventures, Homeville, Klub, Alo Fruit, TruNativ, Rezolv.AI, OTO, Rooter, Progcap, AdOnMo |
| Key Impact Investments | Wiom, BluSmart, DrinkPrime, LeverageEdu, Prescinto, ZyppElectric |
| Valuation Up-rounds) | 65+ Uprounds |
| Co-Investors | Peak XV Surge, YCombinator, A91 Partners, Motilal Oswal Private Equity, Matrix Partners, Yournest & Lightbox among others |
| Founders | Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha, Gaurav Jain, Abhijeet Pai |
| Partners | Rajesh Mane, Ankit Jain, Manoj Aheerey, Vinod Keni, Shivika Sethi |
The rebranding will prove significant for the Indian startup economy that has recorded a 15-fold jump in startup funding between 2015 and 2022. India is now the third largest startup ecosystem in the world with more than 110,000 startups across its geographies (data from Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Tracxn). The country is now home to 111 unicorns with a valuation of USD 350 billion.
Rajesh Mane, Partner at 100Unicorns highlights,”100Unicorns has proved its model of identifying best founders & enabling them with the right support at every step of the journey. We have institutionalized support for startups with focus on growth & fundraising.”
100Unicorns has played a crucial role in the startup ecosystem with initiatives such as DDay and ProStar serving as catalysts for over 80 startups that have collectively secured upwards of $400 million in funding.
Furthermore, over 27+ global roadshows spanning Singapore, the Middle East, and Africa have successfully opened avenues for market expansion for more than 50 portfolio companies.
Additionally, 100Unicorns’ distinctive operational approach, which includes on-site engagements with visiting partners and the active involvement of Investment Committee (IC) members, has been instrumental in guiding over 30 startups to refine their strategies and successfully launch products on a global stage.
Besides, the collaborations with Avalon Consulting, Nishit Desai & Associates has enabled us to create value & maintain global corporate governance to preserve the value.
Alongside these platforms, companies receive ongoing mentorship from our fund partners and seasoned industry experts, ensuring startups have the tools and guidance needed for success.
100Unicorns has reviewed over 14,000 startups & invested in 140+ deals through its first fund.
Ankit Jain, Partner at 100Unicorns highlights “100Unicorns’ early vision of supporting startups from Tier2/3 Cities, backing founders solving local problems with global vision, and focus on climate-tech/sustainability has proven right over the past 4 years. With the upcoming fund, we strive to create an integrated ecosystem & build a full-stack growth portfolio for early-stage startups to navigate a seamless journey to become a category leader.”
In 2020, a mere 10% startups hailed from Tier 2/3 Cities, however the numbers have increased to upto 50% as per DPIIT in 2024. 100Unicorns through its previous fund has consistently funded startups like Alo Fruit from Ambala, Myfitness from Silvasa & Renee Cosmetics from Ahmedabad.
Today, Indian SaaS enterprises are staking their claim as frontrunners on the global stage and 100Unicorns’ commitment to early-stage nurturing process is evident from the success of companies such as VideoVerse, Assiduus, and Convin. Some of the portfolios extend beyond tech to include climate-conscious firms like Zypp Electric and Blu Smart, which have not only established themselves as household names but have also made significant environmental impacts, collectively cutting CO2 emissions by an impressive 75 million kilograms.
Today, 12% of our portfolio companies are deeptech, 22% are led by women & 20% are hailing from smaller towns! With 100Unicorns’s $200M fund, we target to multiply this impact by 100x further.
As of 2024, the Indian startup ecosystem has been experiencing remarkable growth, looking ahead to 2030, it is anticipated that India’s startup landscape will continue to flourish, with projections suggesting the creation of over one million startups and over 1000 more Unicorns. This growth is attributed to factors such as favorable government policies, a burgeoning tech-savvy population, and increasing investment inflows.
The fund also reiterates the importance of Incubators and accelerators in shaping up the economy of any nation. For example, accelerators have been instrumental in establishing the United States as a global leader in the startup domain.
“At 100Unicorns, we are channeling that inspiration to cultivate an ecosystem designed for triumph. Our aim is to carve out a leading role as a top-tier accelerator in India, fostering an environment where emerging startups are poised for victory and leadership in the global marketplace,” added Jain.
With that optimism, 100Unicorns will focus on bridging the early-stage funding gap in India and invest in high quality startups. A meager 0.13% of Indian startups raise any type of seed funding despite the growth of the investor market. The upcoming fund II of $200M ensures that 100Unicorns capitalizes on the gap that exists in the Indian seed funding space.
| No. of Startups in India | 110,000 |
| No. of Seed Funded Startups in India < $1M | 1,535 |
| % of startups seed funded in India | 0.13% |
| % of startups seed funded in US | 5.1% |
| % of startups seed funded in China | 7.2% |
Source : Tracxn, Pitchbook & CB Insights.
Backed by global LPs, 100Unicorns’ 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 5500+ investors, founders, and executives in its ecosystem.