Anthill Ventures selects first cohort of six Indian startups under Urban-i programme

Hyderabad headquartered early stage accelerator firm Anthill Ventures has selected six Indian startups as a part of the first cohort for its Urban-i market access programme focused on accelerating the scale of consumer startups. 

While Urban-i will invest between $50,000 and $100,000 in the selected startups at the beginning of the programme, Anthill Ventures will also assist the companies in raising upto $1 million on completion of the programme, a statement said.

Through the six-month programme, the startups will receive support from 30 global experts, 50 corporate partners and 20 mentors, and have an opportunity to tie up with retailers, distributors and ecommerce companies. 

The shortlisted startups will also benefit from Anthill Ventures’ existing accelerator programme A-scale, a programme for health-tech and media-tech startups.

“We have been tracking the growth of startups that have huge potential to disrupt the consumer brand space globally. We have selected startups that are developing some path-breaking and trend-setting solutions, which can shape future lifestyles,” Prasad Vanga, founder and CEO of Anthill Ventures, said. 

The pool of six Indian startups was shortlisted from 80 applications. Anthill Ventures had invited participation from newly-formed startups focused on personal care, food and beverages, fashion and accessories, healthcare and consumer technology in December last year. 

“Their (startups) solutions have the potential to alter product innovation radically in the urban tech space. Urban-i will create a strategically designed platform for entrepreneurs of consumer brand startups,” actor Rana Daggubati, who is also a mentor to the programme, said.

In July, Anthill Ventures, along with Healthcare Global Enterprises, had shortlisted six healthcare startups under a joint programme called Lumas Health.

Anthill Ventures typically invests in startups from the media, health and consumer sectors, and also enables them to raise funding in 12-18 months. Other than Hyderabad, the company has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Singapore. The firm has investments in edtech startup Logicroots, auto spare parts platform SparesHub, online crowdfunding platform Ketto Online Ventures and online sports gaming platform rooter.io.

Startups selected under the Urban-i programme:

Herringbone & Sui: The startup markets custom clothing at scale with a personalised service. The company targets selling custom Indian wear to the Indian diaspora along with custom western wear for men.

Smitch: The Coimbatore-based company provides affordable consumer IoT (internet-of-things) product and platform solutions focused on connected smart home technology. It markets an affordable home automation module, which has an interactive mobile app and onboard timers to allow customers to control and schedule any home appliance.

Living Food Company: The Bengaluru headquartered company supplies organic food products on a subscription basis sourced from world-class farmers, bakers, brewers, chefs and artisans across all categories. The current product portfolio includes farm-to-fork microgreens, sourdough breads, kombucha and vegan cheese, among others.

Pulp: The skincare brand owned by Buiescreek Cosmetics has environmentally-friendly products and focuses on millenials. 

Tasty Tales: The platform offers a range of ready-to-cook packaged curry pastes made with Indian-style curries in mind. Consumers can make authentic, regional, homestyle dishes in less than 20 minutes.

SoulFuel: The startup offers a range of protein supplements, ideally suited for surgical patients. The products contain natural sugar in the form of date powder, which makes them healthier compared to most protein supplements.