9Unicorns Rebrands as 100Unicorns, Launches Second Fund with $200 Million Target

The Venture Catalysts Group's 9Unicorns, an early-stage accelerator fund, has rebranded as 100Unicorns and launched its second fund with a $200 million target. 

A $100 million greenshoe option is included in the $200 million target size of the second accelerator fund, 100Unicorns Fund II. As per Investorpedia, “A greenshoe option is a provision in an initial public offering (IPO) underwriting agreement that grants the underwriter the right to sell more shares than originally planned if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected.” 

Over 140 start-ups were invested in by 100Unicorns Fund I (previously 9Unicorns) in its inaugural fund, which went on to become multi-bagger success stories. Prominent instances comprise Videoverse, Trunativ, ZyppElectric, Renee Cosmetics, and IGP, all of which have become leaders in their corresponding fields. 

The fund intends to support over 200 businesses in a range of industries, including energy, defense, healthcare, finance, SaaS, and direct-to-consumer (D2C). By November, it hopes to announce its first closure, with a $100 million target. 

The fund will have an initial payout of $250,000 to $1 million and up to $3 million in follow-up capital. 

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, cofounder of 100Unicorns, said, “Rebranding to 100Unicorns is the next step in our evolution process. We have seen significant growth in the Indian start-up ecosystem and massive funding inflow in the past couple of years.” 

With Indians targeting moonshot ideas in emerging sectors such as space tech, biotech, electric vehicles, and cleantech, Sharma added that they are excited to launch a $200 million fund that aligns with the start-up ecosystem's needs. 

Ankit Jain, Partner at 100Unicorns, said, “100Unicorns' early vision of supporting start-ups from Tier-2/3 cities, backing founders, solving local problems with global vision, and focusing on climate technology and sustainability has proven right over the past 4 years.” 

Jain further added that with the upcoming fund, they strive to create an integrated ecosystem and build a full-stack growth portfolio for early-stage start-ups to navigate a seamless journey to become category leaders.