Accelerator fund 9Unicorns charts aggressive investment plan for 2022

Aims to invest in over 150 startups in 2022, with approx. investment of Rs 400cr

Accelerator fund 9Unicorns is charting a much more aggressive investment year after closing 2021 on a high note. In 2021, the fund had a 3x increase in the number of deals at 101 deals as early-stage investments picked up pace in India. It invested in 32 deals in 2020, which was also the fund’s first year of operation. For 2022, the fund intends to invest in 150 startups.

During the year, 9Unicorns invested in 90-odd startups with a total round size of $465 million. On a standalone basis, 9Unicorns invested a total amount of $32 million.  

The $100 million fund, which is backed by multiple billionaires and LPs, has witnessed over 30 up-rounds in 2021 and 10 times co-investing in its portfolio by multiple global VCs, family offices, Unicorn founders and top CXOs.

“9Unicorns is a sector and stage agnostic fund. We have also started looking at Series B & C keeping in mind the new exit opportunities for startups via IPOs that India has startup witnessing lately for tech startups. Next year, we plan to be more aggressive and invest in a total of 150 startups globally with approximate investments worth Rs 400 crore or more,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder & president, Venture Catalyst & MD 9Unicorns.

The Mumbai-based accelerator fund would also be investing in both idea-stage and Series C stage startups. For the idea stage, it looks to invest $.5 million to $1million.

For Series C and above, it plans to write cheques up to $3 million in high-growth stage startups. In 2021, the two-year-old fund has already deployed 25 per cent of the capital in high-growth Series C and B startups even as it would continue to develop great idea-stage companies into potential Unicorns.

In 2021 the fund, launched by Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha, and Gaurav Jain (all co-founders of Venture Catalysts), has invested in 12 Series C startups including Vedantu, Melorra, ShipRocket, FlowBiz, Reshamandi, Biddano, BluSmart, Lido, IGP.com, Faarms, and GoQii.

With its programs and facilities akin to the US’ YCombinator, 9Unicorns competes with other accelerators such as 500 Start-ups, TLabs, Cisco Launchpad, GSF Accelerator, Google Launchpad and iCreate amongst others.

“We are highly optimistic about the early-stage deals in India as the ecosystem is expanding beyond the metros. Even during these unprecedented times, there was a spurt in the number of startups entering the startup ecosystem. Besides, the birth of 40-odd Unicorns in 2021, the highest ever, speaks volumes about the potential the country has to create over 200 Unicorns over the next 2-3 years,” added Sharma.  

9Unicorns, which is being touted as the Y Combinator of India, also conducted its first virtual demo day in August wherein about 32 of its portfolio companies raised around $108 million in just two days from about 50 global VCs.  The investment firm plans its second demo day in January, where about 60-odd startups are waiting to raise funds from some marquee Tier 1 VCs.

“As we continue to build the largest entrepreneurial & investor community at 9Unicorns, we organised 'D Day - Asia's largest demo day attended by 900+ foreign funds, family offices & domestic VCs. An overwhelming $144 million was raised by 30 portfolio companies within 90 days since the D Day. Now the next one is planned in February & we are thrilled to welcome over 1500 investors in the same,” said Rajesh Mane, Partner, 9Unicorns.