FundTonic to create stronger pipeline of startups to fund

PUNE: Mumbai-based FundTonic is working on creating a stronger pipeline of startups it could potentially fund. Set up in early 2016 as an angel investing network, it has since launched a co-working space, an accelerator and a pre-accelerator which helps startups ascertain how feasible their ideas are.

“We started out as an angel investor network with 150 investors last year and now have 700 investors. We were getting 300-400 applications every month and realised that the quality of startups was a problem, so we decided to set up Scale Minds, an accelerator programme,“ said Akshit Gupta, co-founder, FundTonic Group.

The accelerator, set up in September last year, plans to invest in 20 startups every year and work closely to mentor them, as some have grown on an average of 15x. On realising that the accelerator was getting a lot of applications from startups which were still at a proof of concept stage, the next step was to backward integrate further.

“We (the accelerator) want to invest where there is a minimum viable product. So we decided to set up a pre-accelerator, a 45-day programme which will help these companies validate the feasibility of their business model,“ said Gupta.

Of the 30 companies that have been part of the programme, six have gone on to raise funds, while six decided not to continue with what they were doing. “This helps us stay close to the lifecycle from idea to angel stage,“ said Gupta.

After setting up co-working spaces in Mumbai and Bengaluru, the next place on the agenda is Pune, which will have the largest space to be offered by the network yet. In Pune, the plan is to work closely with universities to nurture students for entrepreneurship. “We will help with tech development, patents and with commercialising and making these products investible,“ said Gupta.