IA India Accelerator

Choose the right door first

IA is several offerings under one name. Match your situation before you apply:

• Growth-stage startup wanting mentorship, workspace and platform credits: the accelerator programmes.
• Looking for angel funding in any sector: iAngels, through its Apply for funding button.
• Early-stage healthcare company, seed to Series A: the healthcare thesis.
• Robotics, drone, defence-tech or space startup: the RUMS thesis.
• Have an idea but no team or product yet, and want to build with a partner: the venture studio.

How applications work

The apply page has separate tabs for founders, investors, mentors and partners, so pick the founder route. The programme pages do not publish batch dates, an application window, a fee or an equity term. Ask IA at info@indiaaccelerator.co before you assume any of these.

How selection works

• iAngels says it screens startups on their business model, scalability, market potential and team expertise.
• The healthcare thesis looks for clinical outcomes and unit economics that are proven at small scale.
• The accelerator and the other theses do not describe their selection steps.

What reviewers look for

• Evidence at your stage. The healthcare thesis wants proof at small scale, not a plan.
• Domain depth in the founders. For healthcare, that means clinical, technology or operations experience.
• A scalable model and a market of real size. These are two of the four criteria iAngels names.
• A team that can execute. Team expertise is one of the iAngels criteria.

IA India Accelerator, also written India Accelerator or IA, is a private company in Gurugram that runs a startup accelerator alongside investment funds, an angel network, a venture studio and a network of workspace hubs. Its website describes it as a multi-stage, fund-led accelerator and says it was founded in 2018. Its office is at MGF Metropolis Mall on MG Road in Gurgaon, Haryana.

IA is not a single programme with one application window. It is a group of offerings under one name, and each has its own page, its own audience and its own way in. A founder should first decide whether they want accelerator support, investment from a fund, angel funding, or help building a startup from scratch.

How IA's programmes work

The accelerator programmes are aimed at growth-stage startups. IA says they offer curated mentorship, connections and a support system that covers legal, accounting, technology and marketing help, office space and platform credits from AWS, Zoho and GCP. Startups also get access to the Global Accelerator Network and to corporate perks. The programme page lists several named tracks, but it does not state batch dates, programme length, a fee or an equity term, so ask IA about all of these before you apply.

Beyond the accelerator, IA runs Finvolve, its fund platform, and iAngels, its angel network. It also runs two sector theses, one for healthcare and one for robotics, unmanned systems and space, plus a venture studio and global expansion support. Each is covered below.

Finvolve funds

Finvolve is IA's investment platform. It describes backing startups from pre-seed to pre-IPO. It has three funds: the Accelerator Fund for early-stage startups, the Seed Fund for companies building their product and traction, and the Growth Fund for later-stage companies with proven business models. The Accelerator Fund and the Seed Fund each have a two-year deployment period and a five-year exit period. The Growth Fund has a deployment period of a year and a half and a three-year exit period. Finvolve reports more than 1,400 investors on its network, more than 45 investments made and 5 funds launched. These are IA's own figures and carry no date.

iAngels

iAngels connects startups with angel investors and mentors. It says it is sector agnostic, so founders can come from any field. It also says it screens startups on their business model, scalability, market potential and team expertise. Startups apply through an Apply for funding button on the iAngels page. IA says it has invested in more than 200 startups through the network.

Sector theses

IA says it invests with conviction in six sectors: Defence and Aerospace, Frontier and Strategic Tech, Energy, Healthcare, Consumer, and Impact.

Two of these have their own pages. The healthcare thesis is for early-stage companies, from seed to Series A. IA looks for clinical outcomes and unit economics that are proven at small scale, and for founders with depth in clinical work, technology or operations. The robotics thesis, called RUMS, covers robotics, unmanned systems and space technologies, and says it gives startups capital and resources for product innovation, technology advancement and market growth. It does not state a stage.

Venture Studio and global expansion

Through its venture studio, IA says it identifies ideas with high potential, builds the first product and launches them as startups, partnering with entrepreneurs and giving them the resources they need. A separate page covers global expansion support for startups scaling beyond India, and IA says its global corridors reach more than ten countries.

IA Spaces

IA also runs workspace hubs under the name IA Spaces. Its pages give different counts. The homepage says 33 hubs across 18 cities, while the IA Spaces page says more than 29 hubs across more than 13 cities, with over 7,000 seats. The homepage lists cities including Gurgaon, New Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.

Scale

IA's homepage says it has accelerated more than 250 startups. Its Who We Are page says it has supported over 200. The two figures are IA's own, undated and not reconciled. It also reports more than 2,000 mentors and investors counted together, and more than 50 partners. The portfolio page names startups such as Advance Mobility, Clean Motion, IG Drones, Janitri, Lawyered, Marcos Gaming and Matter.

Who runs it

IA's team page names Ashish Bhatia as Founder and CEO, Mona Singh as Co-Founder and Director, Abhay Chawla as Co-Founder and COO, Munish Bhatia as Co-Founder, Deepak Sharma as Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and John Thomas as Partner.

How to apply and contact

IA's apply page has separate routes for founders, investors, mentors and partners. Founders can also use the Apply Now buttons on the programme, iAngels and thesis pages. For general questions, IA lists the inbox info@indiaaccelerator.co on its contact page.