It Has Been an Exhilarating Journey So Far: Ninad Karpe, 100x.vc 100x.vc discovers investible early-stage startups, mentors them, provides master classes and takes them to the next round of funding
By S Shanthi
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100x.vc commenced its operations in June 2019. Ias a firm, more than 15000 pitch decks have been received and evaluated so far.
"It has been an exhilarating journey so far," says Ninad Karpe, partner, 100x.vc. The company invests as the first cheque writer in early-stage startups. It has a unique model of investing through a simple document – iSAFE Note – which it pioneered in India.
"It is a founder-friendly instrument, which cuts down the time to complete the investments. We discover investible early-stage startups, mentor them, provide master-classes and take them to the next round of funding," said Karpe.
100x.vc is sector agnostic and has invested in 60 startups so far. Talking about its investment outlook for 2021, Karpe said, "We are bullish. The number of new startups being founded by young founders is huge and it is a movement that is unstoppable. It has now become aspirational to be part of a startup and on the other side, the appetite from investors to invest in startups has also grown dramatically."
The company's first investment was in a startup – The Renal Project – which is setting up microdialysis centers in India. "When we invested in the startup, they had only 2 centers and over the past 2 years, they have expanded rapidly and now have more than 25 years. The need for good quality dialysis at a convenient distance is very high in India and the Renal Project is fulfilling this important gap," he added.
