Superfuel Ventures

Pick the right route

• Idea-stage founders: the Superfuel Foundry is the firm's accelerator. Its pages differ on the stage it is for, so check with the firm first.
• Founders who are raising money: the fundraising help and the fund are separate options on the same application form.
• Corporates and family offices: the innovation advisory is for you, not for start-ups.

How applications work

• One online form covers the Foundry, the fund and the fundraising help. Tick the option that fits.
• The form asks you to write about your start-up. For the fund, it asks how much funding you seek and for how long.
• The site states no deadline or batch date for any option.

Before you apply

• The site does not say whether the fund is investing now. Ask the firm.
• The track record on the site is self-reported. It gives no count of companies supported.

Superfuel Ventures is a firm in Gurugram, Haryana. It runs the Superfuel Foundry accelerator, invests through its own venture fund, Startup Superfuel, and offers fundraising help to start-ups. It also advises corporates and family offices on innovation. The legal name on the site is Superfuel Ventures LLP.

How its programmes work

The Superfuel Foundry is a six-month acceleration programme for select entrepreneurs. The firm's home page describes it as an idea-stage programme. Its start-ups page gives a different picture. It says the firm is sector agnostic at seed stage and is particularly interested in founders at the acceleration stage, where it names fashion-tech, urban living and SME aggregation. The two pages do not agree on the stage, so ask the firm which one applies to you.

The firm also offers fundraising help. Its home page says it helps promising start-ups prepare, present and raise funds from the start-up funding ecosystem. The site does not state a fee or terms for this help.

Startup Superfuel is the firm's own venture fund. The site says the firm invests financial, human and social capital in start-ups. It does not state the fund's size, cheque size or stage. The home page describes the fund in the present tense. The team page describes past roles with it, so the site does not show whether the fund is investing now.

Who can apply

The Foundry takes select entrepreneurs. The firm says it looks for tech start-ups with resourceful, energetic founders, a big market opportunity and a differentiated solution. The site gives no separate eligibility rules for the fund or for the fundraising help.

The corporate advisory is for corporates and family offices, not for start-ups. Its services there include innovation outsourcing strategy, customised training, and designing or staffing in-house accelerator programmes or corporate venture capital teams.

How to apply

Start-ups apply through one online application form for the Foundry, the fund and the fundraising help. Tick the option that fits. The form asks you to write about your start-up. For the fund, it also asks how much funding you are seeking and for how long.

What the site does not say

The site does not state intake dates, batch dates, deadlines, costs or equity terms for any of its offers. Ask the firm before you plan around any of them. Its general inbox is info@superfuel.vc.

Who runs it

The team page says the firm's partners have founded and built start-ups, raised capital for their own and their portfolio ventures, and exited several ventures. It names Gaurav Kachru, who it says was Managing Partner at Startup Superfuel, and who had built and exited two start-ups before founding it. It names Pearl Uppal, who founded Fashion & You and was previously a Director at Yahoo! in India and the Middle East.

Portfolio and track record

The firm's news page says every one of its portfolio companies has raised more than one later round of funding. That is the firm's own claim. The site gives no count of companies supported and no dated outcomes.

The portfolio page shows logos for companies including Shiprocket, roposo, Dataweave, Onedios, BeU Salons, TT (Talking Threads) and Woome. The page does not say which are current investments and which are past ones.

Where it is

The office is at B15, Info Tech Park, Sector 34, Gurugram, Haryana 122002. The site lists no other location.

Name and history

The site's footer gives the legal name as Superfuel Ventures LLP. Some outside directories name the company behind Startup Superfuel as 5ideas instead, and the firm's LinkedIn page is named after 5ideas. The site does not say when the firm was founded, and outside listings do not agree on a year.