Creating new companies: India Accelerator funded 27 start-ups in 2020; aims to mentor 100 start-ups in 2021

The IA is a part of the International Accelerator Community, a bunch of 100-odd prime accelerators on the planet. “The IA mannequin carefully follows that of TechStars and different internationally-known accelerators,” he mentioned.

The India Accelerator (IA) is a seed accelerator began in March 2017; it goals to be the spawning floor for rising tech start-ups. “The chosen start-ups obtain not solely seed funding, recommendation and mentoring, and connections, but in addition different important inputs required to allow them to be launched efficiently,” mentioned Ashish Bhatia, founder, IA, in a current interplay with FE.

The IA is a part of the International Accelerator Community, a bunch of 100-odd prime accelerators on the planet. “The IA mannequin carefully follows that of TechStars and different internationally-known accelerators,” he mentioned.

Bhatia added that the IA is exclusive by way of its intensive hands-on method, 360-degree protection, investor relationships, associate community and world focus. “Our mentors are all profitable individuals who have the eagerness to construct the entrepreneurship neighborhood. We’re the one GAN-backed accelerator in India; GAN opens up quite a few alternatives for our portfolio start-ups to increase globally, and in addition brings world mentorship and funding into the image,” he mentioned.

The pandemic yr (2020), Bhatia mentioned, has been robust on start-ups. “The funding funnel dried up, revenues declined, income shrunk, and firms scaled down development plans. Early-stage and mid-stage start-ups are the worst-hit, particularly in journey and transportation house,” he mentioned.

On the identical time, start-ups within the healthtech and edtech house witnessed a surge in revenues and attracted good funding. “The nice factor is that not one of the ‘our start-ups’ shut store throughout these attempting instances. They pivoted, they reengineered, they scaled down in some instances, however they managed to remain alive and I’m certain they are going to strike again tougher with issues now wanting up,” Bhatia mentioned.

In 2020, the IA funded 30 start-ups in its cohort, and it goals to fund 100 start-ups this yr.

Going ahead, the IA is planning world growth. “We’re on the drafting board for launching a programme in Singapore, as a base for protecting the Southeast Asian geography. One other focus is to increase our footprint to Africa,” Bhatia mentioned.