India Accelerator and Council for International Economic Understanding (CIEU) have collaborated to launch BharatX, an accelerator programme to boost seed and growth-stage start-up ventures in the country. 

BharatX announced an investment of Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore in selected start-ups in its first edition. The programme also aims to facilitate access to corporations with a dialogue with policymakers, which can help start-ups in tier 2 and 3 cities grow quickly. 

This development emerges at a time when Indian start-ups are unable to raise investments at a proper valuation. The accelerator hopes to help founders weather this ‘funding winter.’  

The number of start-ups in India grew from 471 in 2016 to 72,933 in 2022. BharatX seeks to build the indigenous start-up ecosystem by announcing $15 million over 18 months to help local entrepreneurs scale nationwide. \

"With India becoming the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world, Bharat-specific start-ups from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities require different interventions and ecosystems to help build solutions for the next over 800 million people. Bharatx will bridge that gap and enable the next stage of expansion of the start-up ecosystem through specialised programs." Munish Bhatia, CEO of Bharatx said. 

He added that the need to look at Indian start-ups emerging from non-metro cities is dire. “As part of BharatX accelerator program, we look forward to bringing the start-ups in the spotlight that are actually building global platforms and products for the world” he stated.

While talking about the decision to BharatX, Ashish Bhatia, the Founder and CEO of India Accelerator and Governing Board Member of Bharatx, said, “Almost 30% of our current portfolio start-ups hail from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Though there are schemes, provisions, and access to a robust digital infrastructure, most start-ups struggle with visibility and the intelligence to channelise the right resources that take them to the global stage. We aim to use our winning formula to encourage industry growth and become truly independent by leaving no swadeshi behind.”

In addition, BharatX aims to launch two cohorts with 20 selected seed to early-stage start-ups for the program. Through the Bharatx ecosystem, start-ups can access $10 million in funding and secure partnerships with over 50 corporations to help scale their businesses.