If you're an idea-stage founder in India, 9Unicorns — now rebranded as 100Unicorns — is quite literally India's answer to Y Combinator. Set up by incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts and led by co-founder and managing director Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, it was billed from day one as India's first accelerator VC fund: a conveyor belt of capital, mentorship and network designed to turn raw ideas into billion-dollar companies.
The numbers are serious. The maiden fund launched in 2019 with a Rs 300 crore dedicated allocation from Venture Catalysts, and today the firm's official site lists Fund I at USD 100 million and Fund II at USD 150 million, with 157 investments, 14,000+ startups reviewed, 3 unicorns and 30+ companies valued above $50 million. The standard deal: around $150,000 for 5–7% equity at the idea stage (originally Rs 60 lakh for 5%), followed by $500K–$2M in successive rounds alongside co-investors. Every portfolio company gets three months of acceleration support plus 18 months of post-investment backing.
9Unicorns is proudly sector-agnostic: deep tech, B2B SaaS, fintech, insurtech, healthtech, edtech, EV and mobility, D2C, FMCG, media and travel logistics all feature. Its portfolio reads like a who's who of early-stage India: Zypp Electric, Shiprocket, VideoVerse, Renee Cosmetics, IGP/Join Ventures, Power Gummies, Progcap, Wiom, Vedantu, Zetwerk, BrightChamps, Klub, Janani, ExtraaEdge, Toch.ai and Deepsync.
Beyond the cheque, the fund runs distinctive programs: the Catalysts Program, an open community of 1,000+ founders, CXOs and ecosystem drivers who mentor portfolio startups for 3–5 months and tee up follow-on investors; D Day, billed as the world's largest global Demo Day, run quarterly with 100+ investors from the US, UK, China, Hong Kong and Singapore; Prostar, India's largest growth-stage event connecting startups with marquee fund houses; and a Student Fund writing $50,000–$75,000 cheques to concept-stage startups at IITs and IIMs. Portfolio startups also get access to Venture Catalysts' network of 4,500+ business angels across six countries, plus corporate governance coaching. Credits and perks offered are not publicly disclosed.
Why it matters for founders
9Unicorns is one of the few Indian funds that genuinely writes cheques at the idea stage — not just pre-seed, but napkin-stage — and pairs them with 21 months of acceleration, a global demo day and a 4,500-angel network. If you have conviction but no traction, this is one of the most founder-accessible doors in the Indian ecosystem.