Soonicorn Ventures

Before you apply

• Soonicorn invests through an angel fund and a members' network, so a pitch call is a pitch to investors, not only to a deal team. Prepare for live questions from people who have built in your category.
• Check that you are early-stage. Late-stage rounds are passed to institutional partners, not led by the fund.

How applying works

• Apply on the Soonicorn platform with your deck and traction. The team says it replies within 5 business days with a yes, a no or a request for more.
• A paid fast-track exists. The fund says it only speeds up the answer and does not change how your application is judged, so it is optional.
• If shortlisted you pitch live to members. The call is recorded for investors who join later.

What reviewers look for

• A clear category and a founder who knows it well, since diligence is run with operators from that category.
• Traction you can show in the deck, because the application asks for it.
• Comfort with standard templates and a clean cap table.

Questions

Write to the general inbox on the Soonicorn site for anything the application page does not answer.

Soonicorn Ventures is an angel investing network based in Gurugram, Haryana. It invests in early-stage Indian startups through Soonicorn Angel Trust-I, a SEBI-registered Category I Angel Fund. The firm was founded in 2022 by Vijay Singh Rathore and Pravesh Goel, and the fund was approved by SEBI in September 2023.

Who it backs

Soonicorn describes itself as a community of operators, founders and allocators investing together in India's early-stage companies. Its portfolio runs to more than 60 companies across more than 18 sectors, with the largest groups in climate-tech, D2C and FMCG brands, B2B software, and drone-tech. It also lists logistics, fintech, EV, space-tech, agri-tech, ed-tech, prop-tech and deep-tech names. Its own portfolio notes describe some companies as pre-seed or seed stage. Late-stage rounds are shared with VC firms and family offices rather than led by the fund.

How a founder gets in

Founders apply through the Soonicorn platform by submitting a deck and traction details on a short application form. The deal team says it reviews each application within 5 business days and replies with a yes, a no, or a request for more detail. It reports screening more than 100 applications a month, and only a small number reach a pitch call.

Shortlisted founders present on a live pitch call to qualifying members of the fund, with real-time questions and answers. Calls are recorded so investors who join late can catch up. Soonicorn says the path from pitch to close takes about 14 days. Deals use standard founder-friendly templates, and the firm says it keeps the cap table clean.

There is also an optional paid fast-track that moves an application to the front of the review queue. Soonicorn states that it is a faster answer and not a better chance, because every application is judged the same way.

How diligence works

Each deal is reviewed with members who have built or scaled in the same category, and they join the pitch call as well as reading the memo. Founders should expect operator-style questions on the market, the product and the numbers. After the wire, investors get quarterly updates through the platform.

Syndicates and the fund structure

Alongside the angel fund, Soonicorn runs a Fund-as-a-Service route in which a syndicate lead brings their own network to a deal and the platform handles the paperwork, drawdowns and exits. The investment manager is Nucleus AAR Advisors LLP and the trustee is MITCON Credentia Trusteeship Services Limited.

What Soonicorn does not publish

The site does not state a fixed cheque size for founders, a sector thesis, or an intake calendar. Cheque and terms are set deal by deal. Its public contact is a general info inbox on its own domain.