Sharma plans to build 100+ startup portfolio company
India’s startup ecosystem enabler, Marwari Catalysts, says it aims to raise US$10 million at a valuation of US$90 million, 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 latest fund raise is expected to have participation from existing and new shareholders, including Sandeep Gulati (CEO – South Asia & 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.
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,” Sushil Sharma, Founder & CEO, Marwari Catalysts, said on 2 May 2022.
“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,” he said.
Sharing his rationale, Devesh Rakhecha, Founder & 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 and 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% 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% 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 & 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% of the startups under accelerator’s portfolio have grown 10x wherein 70% of startups have raised their funding round addressing 15+ categories with each batch of 6-8 startups in each cohort, with only 10-15% failure ratio, making it way beyond the industry standard.
End result being, the total combined value of Marwari Catalysts and portfolio startups is US$200 million.
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, Sharma said, “Marwari Catalysts purely as an accelerator is now open for its backward integration with domestic and global incubators as well as 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.” fiinews.com
