Jodhpur (Rajasthan) [India], May 2 (ANI/NewsVoir): India's startup ecosystem enabler, Marwari Catalysts, aims to raise USD 10M at a valuation of USD 90M, with active participation from existing and new shareholders, Sandeep Gulati (CEO - South Asia and MD - India at Egis), Yogesh Chaudhary (Founder - Jaipur Rugs), Nitin Sethi (CDO - Adani Group), Ankur Mishra (Director - Central Academy), Ashutosh Gehlot (Promotor, OS Ford), Manish Singhvi (CFO - Marlabs Inc.) and Anil Malhotra (CEO - H & M Indonesia), the company said in a statement.
The accelerator plans to use the raised funding to reinforce the current portfolio, accelerate the progress towards a digital and self-reliant India, enable global reach and engage more with growth stage startups while also offering mentorship and peripheral services.
The strategic concept behind the fund raise is to strengthen the accelerator's position as market leader as they plan to expand their offerings globally and as a startup advisory firm, they'll continue to help young entrepreneurs with the right mix of capital, know-how and networks to build enduring businesses.
Somewhere down the line, one may feel that the main purpose of an accelerator is to only help early-stage startups scale up and raise funds, but looking at a broader picture, accelerators readies an ecosystem and has become the launchpads for the modern economy, beyond capital infusion, in today's date. In simpler words, they are the new kingmakers for the startup industry and Y Combinator and Techstars are a few good examples.
Accelerator's main purpose is to make the startups investor ready and that's why even the Angel Networks/VCs/Family Funds look forward to partnering with accelerated startups.
Accelerators have a global drive to trigger the growth and development of nations through innovations and creativity. Marwari Catalysts is therefore working with the same drive and with deep roots in India (Tier II and Tier III cities) the team is passionate about investing in entrepreneurs who are poised to be tomorrow's global leaders.
As of today's date, Marwari Catalysts has built a portfolio of over 40+ startup companies since 2019 and continues to seek companies that are capturing new markets, providing innovative solutions and creating new wealth for India and beyond. Therefore, after the fund raise, Marwari Catalysts plans to be a 100+ startup portfolio company.
"The idea behind launching Marwari Catalysts was always to provide a strong accelerator network and build India's most founder and investor friendly ecosystem as we believe that the main game relies on the founders and the founding team. So, today as we enter the next stage of our evolution, we feel that the financing milestone will be a testimony to our journey of innovation and disruption," says Sushil Sharma, Founder and CEO, Marwari Catalysts.
Sharing his rationale, Devesh Rakhecha, Founder and COO, Marwari Catalysts says, "We always knew that there is huge money and amazing skilled founders in Tier II-III cities, but investors don't get access to the A-grade startups. We exposed them to this new asset class through masterclasses, physical events, and networking with experts. Our goal was to democratise access to startups to every investor. The successful closure of the previous round is a testament that our consistent hard work is bearing fruit."
Backing homegrown startups with full/partial exits from 5+ startups, the primary concept of Marwari Catalysts is to invest in people and their ideas, whether with money, effort, or time. Honouring 2 per cent of the total applications that they receive, the company is dedicated to transforming promising early-stage startup ideas into viable business concepts with a local, national, and global effect.
With a passion towards professional community building, Richa Sharma, a woman Entrepreneur and Co-founder at Marwari Catalysts, says, "MCats has always focused on having a dedicated platform to empower women who are trying to break the glass ceiling by being a part of this startup ecosystem. End result being, approx 35 per cent of our portfolio startups today, are led by women Co-founders. Keeping the momentum going and promoting women leadership, MCats aims to provide a window of opportunity with this fund raise to activate more women startup founders and women investors and come up with changes for our industry for the better."
Being highly optimistic about MCats' action agenda for growth, Raunak Singhvi, Co-founder at Marwari Catalysts and Head at Accelerator program, Thrive, says, "Building on what we did over the past 2 years, we are committed to be a catalyst and a partner in unlocking the possibilities for a digital India and MCats sits at the right juncture to enable acceleration while fueling innovation and economy in India."
As of today's date, 25 per cent of the startups under accelerator's portfolio have grown 10x wherein 70 per cent of startups have raised their funding round addressing 15+ categories with each batch of 6-8 startups in each cohort, with only 10-15 per cent failure ratio, making it way beyond the industry standard.
End result being, the total combined value of Marwari Catalysts and portfolio startups is USD 200M.
Also with its accelerator cohort program, 'Thrive', MCats has got a well-seasoned and highly competent team with a full-fledged 100 Co-founders club from major cities like Jaipur, Surat, Nasik, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Indore, Mangalore and Chennai.
Summing up, Sushil Sharma, says, "Marwari Catalysts purely as an accelerator is now open for its backward integration with domestic and global incubators and forward alignment with Angel networks, HNIs, Family funds, VC and PE funds. Let's connect and explore because the only growth strategy that matters is collaboration."
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