9Unicorns announces third close of accelerator fund at $40 million

• The platform has announced the third close of its first accelerator at $40 million to fund idea-stage startups in the country.
• It is planning to fund about 150 incubated startups in deep tech, B2B SaaS, media, FMCG, fintech, insurtech, health tech, edtech, and travel logistics.

9Unicorns has announced the third close of its first accelerator, which will finance idea-stage startups in the country for $40 million (roughly Rs 298 crore). The $70 million gross fund size of the Venture Catalysts-backed accelerator (about Rs 520 crore). This year will be the final year of service.

Global and Indian industrialists and companies, as well as limited partners such as Haldiram's, Indian Bank, and Ahmedabad-based Chona Family Office, took part in the third close.

"Within seven months of its first close, the sector-agnostic fund had committed investments in around 40 startups. Of those, 25% have already received larger rounds of funding, ranging from 2x to 4x their initial investment "According to a statement released on Friday.

Over the next year, 9Unicorns expects to invest in around 150 early-stage startups across a variety of industries, including deep tech, B2B SaaS, media, FMCG, fintech, insurtech, health tech, edtech, and travel logistics.

Its current portfolio comprises the following:

-Toch.ai is a website for immersive video shopping.
-Klub is a revenue-based lending company.
-Janani is a pregnancy specialist.
-ExtraaEdge is a company that specializes in marketing automation.
-Monrow, a D2C lifestyle footwear brand, Qin1, an education technology firm, and Deepsync, an audio production automation firm

In a tweet, Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, founder and managing director of 9Unicorns, said, "As a fund, we plan to support early-stage businesses that have the potential to become billion-dollar companies in the future." "We completed our third close well ahead of schedule and are on track to complete the final close soon to help drive an already thriving startup economy."

The Mumbai-based accelerator fund has also launched the Catalysts Program, an initiative to create an inclusive group of creators, chief experience officers, and ecosystem drivers to fund and mentor early-stage startups, in addition to the third close.

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The program will operate in tandem with the 9Unicorns Fund, with the aim of disrupting the conventional venture capital system and establishing a global network of over 1,000 catalysts, according to the announcement. The aim is to find and shortlist selected startups for investment and co-investment by 9Unicorns, mentor existing portfolio startups for 3-5 months, and bring institutional investors to 9Unicorns deals for the next round of financing.

9Unicorns invests about $150,000 for 5-7 percent equity in each startup at the concept level as an accelerator fund.

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