India’s startup ecosystem enabler, Marwari Catalysts closed its last round at a valuation of $20M, with active participation from existing and new shareholders, Sandeep Gulati (CEO – South Asia & MD – India at Egis), Yogesh Chaudhary (Founder – Jaipur Rugs), NitinSethi (CDO – Adani Group), Ankur Mishra (Director – Central Academy), AshutoshGehlot (Promotor, OS Group) and Manish Singhvi (CFO – Marlabs Inc.), 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 statement said.
The strategic concept behind the present 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, a statement said.
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 & Tier III cities) the team is passionate about investing in entrepreneurs who are poised to be tomorrow’s global leaders, the company said.
“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 & CEO, Marwari Catalysts.
Sharing his rationale, Ankur Mishra, Shareholder at Marwari Catalysts, Director – Central Academy says, “We always knew that there are amazing skilled founders in Tier II-III cities, but investors don’t get access to the A-grade startups. Marwari Catalysts has a progressive model which allows investors like us to participate with capital and knowledge to support the early growth stage startups in their journey from seed to beyond. We never know which idea goes on to become the next big story from India. Having built a very elite group of startup founders, we believe we have the access to some of the best opportunities in the early stage.”
With a passion towards professional community building, Richa Sharma, Founding Member at Marwari Catalysts & a woman entrepreneur 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, Yogesh Chaudhary, Shareholder at Marwari Catalysts & Founder at Jaipur Rugs says, “With a strong portfolio development acceleration program ensuring higher chances of success, MCats is committed to be a catalyst and a partner in unlocking the possibilities for a digital India and sits at the right juncture to enable acceleration while fueling innovation and economy in India.”
Summing up, Sushil Sharma, says, “Marwari Catalysts purely as an accelerator is now open for its backward integration with domestic & 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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