Mumbai, 27th August, 2019: 100X.VC, India’s first and only VC Fund that aims to invest in 100 Startups in a year, has received a remarkable response from founders who are taking the leap into entrepreneurship across India. 100X.VC, since its launch, has been receiving about 24 startup pitch applications every day on an average from last 40 days.
100X.VC is a sector agnostic CAT 1 AIF (Alternative Investment Fund) that invests up to INR 10 Million per startup using India SAFE Notes (iSAFE).
Below are some interesting insights from 100X.VC team on Class 01 of 2019 Pitch Application Statistics:
Since the launch of the fund, they have received 1200+ email applications from across India with 962 valid pitches which are currently under evaluation.
The statistics of the pitches received by 100X.VC reflected that the tier II cities topped the charts at 31.9% showing some great potential. Whereas, Delhi-NCR took the lead in tier I category at 24.5%, followed by Mumbai at 15.5%, beating Bengaluru (startup capital of India) at 11.4%.
There is huge gap between the founders of tier II & III cities and the VCs. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DIPP), India has 300 plus incubators and accelerators managed under several schemes provided by Central and State Government. As per National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), 40% of these incubators and accelerators are concentrated in tier I cities. Most recently, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry announced that the current number of registered startups with DIPP stands at 21,000 in 2019.
“Startups, globally, have been seen as nation builders and we want to back the next new wave of great Indian entrepreneurs from every corner of the country. Digital inclusion comprising of voice, video and vernacular play will be the next wave for India. While the number of startups have been on the increase, access to seed capital still remains a challenge – we want to fill that gap through iSAFE Notes backing 100 startups in a year and supporting Digital India”, said Shashank Randev, Founder VC at 100X.VC.
Considering various sectors, the largest number of applications were from Consumer Goods & Services sector – 26.6%, followed by B2B Software Services sector – 20.6%. Also, received some applications from innovative startups in the automotive and aerospace sectors – 3.9% and 1.2% respectively of the application pool.
100X.VC believes that their ability to simplify the funding process and having a team of veterans with early stage investment experience will enable them to work deeply within the ecosystem. “We are overwhelmed and humbled with the phenomenal interest shown by startup founders to be part of Class 01 of 2019 of 100x.vc. Our unique model and approach seems to have resonated well with the founders and with the huge number of applications received by us, we hope to pick the very best and nurture them to success. We are committed to making a difference to the startup ecosystem by keeping the founder at the centre of our attention”, said Ninad Karpe, Partner at 100X.VC.
100X.VC will identify and select the most talented entrepreneurs from the application pool having a strong founding team going after a large market, and building out a product-market fit. Class 01 of 2019 comprising of 20 startups will receive seed investment from 100X.VC using iSAFE Notes.