SUMMARY
$360 Mn was raised by startups from 1.2K global VCs and family offices during the past two editions of DDay (Demo Day) held in 2021 and 2022.
The third edition of 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts’ DDay will be held virtually on April 18, 2023
The event will be led by startups that have found their right market fit, showcase scalability and sustainability in their DNA and made an impact on the country’s startup ecosystem
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In its endeavour to forge the next generation of unicorns from India, Mumbai-based 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts are all set to host the third edition of DDay (Demo Day), a startup pitch event, on April 18, 2023.
The event, which will be streamed in India, Singapore, London, USA, and Dubai, aims to give an opportunity to more than 20 early and growth stage startups (Seed and Series A) to pitch their businesses to over 1.5K global and Indian investors.
“Investors are interested in the Indian startup ecosystem because the startups are creating products to cater to the massive diversity across the country and the wide economic classes, which indicate a market with tremendous potential,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, the cofounder and managing director of Venture Catalysts and 9Unicorns.
Sharma added that the event, DDay, will provide Seed and Series A stage startups an opportunity to showcase their businesses to a large number of global investors. It is pertinent to note here that India today fosters more than 84K startups, which has gained a lot of attention from global investors.
“It is not just another pitch event but a launchpad for the startups to put their business on a high growth trajectory,” Sharma said.
According to Sharma, the past two editions of the DDay, in 2021 and 2022, saw startups lapping up a combined funding of $360 Mn from more than 1.2K global and Indian VCs.
Some of the startups that raised capital from investors in the last two DDay events are SaaS-based video editing platform VideoVerse, electric vehicle startup BluSmart, and eSports startup Rooter.
While VideoVerse lapped up $46.8 Mn in a Series B funding round led by A91 Partners, BluSmart and Rooter bagged $25 Mn each in their respective funding rounds from investors like Mayfield and March Capital, respectively.
Not only this, the previous DDay events also helped seed-stage startups get investors backing. While B2B skilling service startup Cusmat secured $3.5 Mn in a Series A funding round from Arkam Ventures, AI-based investment platform Algobulls raised $2 Mn in a Pre-Series A round from Venture Catalysts, LetsVenture and DSP Group.
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DDay: Back With A Bang
Envisioning to make the event more successful, the third edition of DDay will feature startups that have found their right market fit, showcase scalability and sustainability in their DNA and can have an impact on the country’s startup ecosystem.
The startups will be selected from five major categories as stated below:
Impact
- Cleantech and Sustainability
- Mobility
- Agritech
- Healthtech
Fintech
- Automotive
- Proptech
- Alternative Investment
- Litigator and Interim Financing
Ecommerce And Direct-to-Customer (D2C)
- B2B Commerce
- B2B2C Retail
- Travel Retail
Media and Entertainment
- Deeptech
- Augmented Reality (AR)
- Consumer App
- Social Media
- Advertising
Further, marquee investors such as Sequoia, Tiger Global, SoftBank, WestBridge, Accel, Insight Partners, Lightspeed, Symphony, and Creation Investments, among others, are likely to hear the pitches of the founders of selected startups.
The event will also offer startups an opportunity to network with angel investors and VCs. The founders will get a chance to be mentored by eminent industry leaders, unicorn founders, and CXOs, among others.
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Braving The Funding Winter
Amid the funding winter, startups with strong foundations and resilient teams will continue to outperform and raise capital, according to Sharma.
Even though startup funding is struggling to pick up pace in the country’s startup ecosystem, we cannot ignore the fact that investors still hold a lot of dry powder. Besides, despite the funding slowdown, the Indian startup ecosystem saw a 200% YoY spike in seed-stage funding in 2022.
“Some of the great businesses and unicorns existing today were built in the times of recession, the ability of startups to withstand uncertainty proved their mettle and we potentially see many unicorns emerging with these characteristics,” Sharma said, adding that VCs will continue to bet on startups that have resilience, scalability and sustainability in their DNA.
The industry leader sees AI becoming a part of people’s daily lives and fintech facilitating financial inclusion. While healthtech will aid in developing better healthcare systems. He also believes that agritech and cleantech will write the next chapter of the Indian startup ecosystem in the years to come.
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Update | March 31, 15:30
The DDay 3 event has been postponed from 11th April to 18th April 2023. The dates have been changed in the article accordingly.
