Accelerator fund 9Unicorns ropes in Pravesh Mehta as venture partner

Venture Catalysts-run accelerator fund 9Unicorns on Monday said that it has onboarded angel investor Pravesh Mehta, among others, as a venture partner.

The Mumbai headquartered integrated incubator declined to respond to TechCircle’s request for details on the other new venture partners.

Real estate developer Mehta is an Ahmedabad-based industrial engineering professional-turned-angel investor, a statement said. An early investor in automobile marketplace Droom, the statement said that he has backed 25 other startups so far.

Mehta has been associated with Venture Catalysts since 2018. As part of the continued partnership, he has committed about Rs 50 crore to the fund, of which he has already invested Rs 30 crore, the statement said.

“His (Mehta) commitment towards our fund shows how successful business persons from tier II and tier III cities are interested in exploring their role as angel investors,” 9Unicorns co-founder and managing director Apoorva Ranjan Sharma said.

The fund, announced a year ago, aims to boost its network of investors to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem across cities beyond metros, as per the statement. The fund’s recently announced Rs 100 crore close, the statement said, was inclusive of Mehta’s efforts.

The accelerator fund’s first close was announced in early September, with contributions from corporations, family offices and institutions from ten countries.

Startups that are part of 9Unicorns will receive access to a global network of venture capitalists and family offices for Series A, B and follow-on investments, ranging from Rs 3 crore to Rs 15 crore from Venture Catalysts.

The fund seeks to identify high potential, early stage businesses across sectors, including electric vehicles, mobility, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, fintech, retail and FMCG.

Venture Catalysts, which was set up in 2016 by Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain, has backed at least 14 startups since January. It currently has a presence in 35 Indian cities, which includes both large metros and small towns. It also has an international presence, with offices in the UK, Middle East, North Africa and the US.