More than four dozen startups are set to make an elevator pitch to some of the most active early-stage investors in India at the Mumbai edition of VCCircle’s curated multi-city fundraising programme The Pitch on Friday.
The programme, which seeks to connect startups with serious investors (venture capital firms, family offices and others), is meant for early-stage ventures courting prospective financial backers in curated sessions.
The Pitch kicked off on September 14 in Bengaluru, gained momentum in Delhi last month before moving to the financial capital. It would be held in Mumbai on November 3, followed by a grand finale in December that would also acknowledge and celebrate disruptors in the ecosystem.
Among the more mature startups, WorkIndia, which already counts backers such as Beenext, Xiaomi, Insitor Impact Fund, SBI Tokyo, Nintendo Family Office, Persol, Asuka Asset Management, besides angel investors, will make a pitch to raise what is believed to be its Series B round.
The eight-year-old venture, led by co-founders Nilesh Dungarwal and Moiz Arsiwala, is a job portal for blue- and grey-collar workers. It raised a pre-Series B round less than a year ago.
The startup says it is the only recruitment platform in India that has been able to generate profitable revenue from small and medium businesses. It has also created a job system built with over 450 million data points. The firm had also pitched to a separate set of investors in the Bengaluru edition of the pitching programme last month.
Pre-Series A
There are nearly a dozen ventures looking to scoop up a pre-Series A round. These include e-nutrition marketplace Yellolife; Hedge5; mobile app security firm Protectt.ai; Our Family Clinic; logistics tech venture Elixia; rice company Lifegold; Jivika Healthcare; Scogo; Jiyyo and 21CC Education.
Early-stage startups
The biggest set of ventures wooing investors are the early stage pack of startups numbering around three dozen. These include supplements maker PuroBest; Evoride Motors; E-panipurii kartz, Biggdiscount; Shashvi Ayuurveda; TRST Score; Doozygo, The Middle Road; Quali55care, Digital Labour Chowk, KiarX; The Betel Diaries; PayRup, Breezo.ai; Desh Recreation; PurpleRibbon; Prorata and Jump in Sky.
Others in the early-stage group making their pitch include WellthyBot; NIMKA; Mamafeast, Naturefest; Network Science; iiV FootPlus; PetMama; Kesowa; Pasand; My Folio; Footrax; Humble Bee; Skor; Dream Ticket; Remypatra Hair Online; Sarv; Echelon Edge; MyShareholding and FinanceFlo.
Mobility
The Mumbai chapter of the programme also has a curated set of four mobility startups making a pitch to investors. These are SINA Mobility; Rapidious; NavShrey AutoInnovations and Switchlabs Automobiles.