- ByStartupStory | October 1, 2024
SanchiConnect, a DeepTech accelerator, has announced a successful capital raise led by Baring Private Equity Partners-India (STPL), Seafund, and 8X Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from other prominent investors including Ogma, Arctic Innovations, and InnovHer. The fresh funds will be used to bolster SanchiConnect’s newly launched SaaS-based offerings, aimed at providing support to Indian startups. This investment marks a significant step for the accelerator as SaaS-based support from incubators and accelerators becomes a growing global trend, now making its mark in India due to the accelerated pace of innovation.
“With the current fundraise, we plan to strengthen our software suite around different formats of startup enablement. We will continue to push our community efforts and strengthen the play with AI integrations to give our users more reasons to engage and derive value. The funds will also be used for regional expansion across APAC and the Middle East,” said Sunil Shekhawat, CEO & Co-founder of SanchiConnect.
Founded in 2022, SanchiConnect started as a community builder and later expanded into software services, quickly becoming a key technology provider to top incubators, accelerators, and corporate innovation programs across India and South-East Asia.
“We seeded the idea of SanchiConnect 3 years back to strengthen the early-stage deep tech startup ecosystem. The way it has evolved and made a positive impact in the deep tech startup industry makes us proud to be the founding partner with the team. We plan to continue backing them as they step towards bigger goals for the future,” said Rahul Bhasin, Managing Partner of Baring PE Partners-India.
Manoj Agarwal, Managing Partner of Seafund, echoed this sentiment: “We have been closely observing the work SanchiConnect has been doing through startup acceleration and community building. The launch of their SaaS platform and its adoption by top incubators and corporate programs gave us the confidence to join their journey as investors.”
Chirag Gupta, Managing Partner at 8X Ventures, also shared his enthusiasm: “We were early beneficiaries of the SanchiConnect community and got into some interesting partnerships through the network. Our inclination towards SanchiConnect’s vision grew multifold when we met Dr Sunil in 2022. We are delighted to partner with SanchiConnect in powering the enablers of this industry using optimal tech.”
SINE EDGE, the community platform powered by SanchiConnect, has played a pivotal role for the startups under the SINE program at IIT Bombay. Shaji Varghese, CEO of SINE, IIT Bombay, added, “SINE EDGE, our community platform powered by SanchiConnect, has been truly transformative for us. We have been able to elevate our engagement with stakeholders to a level that is more productive and efficient. This has enabled us to deliver even greater value-add to our startups. Having worked closely with Dr Sunil and his team, we are excited to see SanchiConnect moving to its next stage of growth by putting more technology in the product and accessing newer markets.”
