New Delhi: Sanchiconnect, a business-oriented platform for deep tech startups, investors, and corporates, has announced one-of-a-kind funding led go-to-market-focused 3-month accelerator programme for very early-stage sustainability (green mobility) startups in partnership with two micro venture capital funds.
Pre-seed accelerator Green Mobility, a Sanchiconnect initiative, in collaboration with Yamaha as its innovation partner, and EV2 ventures and SEA Fund as funding partners, will fund INR 75 lakh each in 8 early-stage startups in the green mobility domain. Applications are open till March 31, 2023. After the screening, selection will begin alongside due diligence under Desai & Diwanji Law firm as legal partner to the programme, the company said in a media release.
This 90-day programme will start on May 1 and conclude on July 30. The selected startups to receive funding can get up to INR 4 crore, while each startup will get a minimum of INR 75 lakh at the first stage of the programme. Moreover, industry experts will be available to provide real-time experience and learning to the young entrepreneurs in developing their startups and helping them become competitive in the market through the Founders helping Founders initiative. This is India’s first specialised industry-focused acceleration programme, with notable founders onboard as mentors to handhold very early-stage founders, the release said.
Green Mobility is a Sanchiconnect initiative in collaboration with green mobility-focused venture funds supporting IP-led businesses in contributing towards the growing mobility startup ecosystem.
The mobility sector is projected to reach a global market size of USD 2.7 trillion by 2030, with India’s CAGR expected to be 49% compared to the global average of 22%. It is estimated that there will be 50 million electric vehicles (EVs) plying on Indian roads by 2030 and the micro-mobility market size in India is pegged at USD 60 billion. Additionally, it has been predicted that 80% of the retail vehicle finance market in India would go towards EV financing, amounting to an estimated figure of USD 320 billion for smart transportation and connected logistics by 2030.
Karan Mittal, Partner at EV2 Ventures, said, “Ev2 Ventures is one of India’s First Mobility focused venture funds that has a very detailed investment thesis across the smart mobility space. It believes that the mobility sector has a tremendous impact on society by contributing towards environmental developments, economic access and stability. We are extremely excited to partner with Sanchiconnect for the Green Mobility programme, to help exceptional founders who are trying to create impact at venture scale across the mobility sector with sustainable business models and IP around their products.”
Manoj Agarwal, Partner, SEA Fund, said, “SEA Fund has its own internal thesis on Climate-tech as a space and what Sanchiconnect is trying to do with this programme resonated very well with how we want to go about making investments from our new fund.
We have been very hands-on with our first fund portfolio companies and we expect that our operator mindset, combined with the deep sectoral focus of this programme, will help unearth the next set of passionate founders in mobility.”
Sanchiconnect was created by Sunil Shekhawat, a former executive and Head of Products – NASSCOM. It assists deep-tech firms in raising capital by partnering with over 100 investment partners, including angel networks, venture funds and family funds. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and strongly backed by BaringIndia Private Equity Fund and Inflexion Point Ventures, the release added.
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