PNN
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], June 2: Over 150 venture capital firms and angel investors participated in Masters’ Union Demo Day 2025, held this weekend at DLF Cyberpark in Gurugram, making it India’s largest student startup showcase by investor turnout. Top firms in attendance included Blume Ventures, JSW Ventures, IvyCap Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Aavishkaar Capital, and Gaja Capital, reflecting the growing investor interest in student-led innovation and founder-first education models.
* India’s top early-stage VC firms including Blume Ventures, JSW Ventures, IvyCap Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Aavishkaar Capital, Gaja Capital participated in the event
* Masters’ Union has supported 80+ startups since inception through their Venture Initiation Programme (VIP)
* In the past year alone, 10 startups incubated under VIP have raised over Rs. 22 crore in external funding, with a combined annual revenue of Rs. 35 crore in FY25
Fifteen ventures were selected to present at the event. These startups spanned sectors including AI, Web3, crypto analytics, FMCG, mobile gaming, and lab-grown diamonds. Most had already achieved early traction through customer pilots, revenues, or previous angel rounds, and were now seeking institutional capital. They were incubated under Masters’ Union’s Venture Initiation Programme (VIP) – a year-long, curriculum-integrated startup building track. VIP is designed to help students go from idea to institutionally fundable businesses by graduation, offering access to mentors, investors, product advisors, and operating founders. Since its inception, the programme has supported over 80 ventures, many of which have gone on to raise funding and build early traction before graduation.
“With our Venture Initiation Programme (VIP), our goal is to build the most credible campus-to-capital pipeline in India”, said Pratham Mittal, Founder, Masters’ Union. “This year’s participation by almost all of India’s leading early stage VCs reflects how student-led businesses are being taken seriously by the market. VIP is now producing investable ventures, not just experiments.”
Masters’ Union’s VIP is steadily gaining visibility among early-stage investors evaluating founder-led ventures emerging from academic environments. In the past year alone, 10 startups incubated under VIP have raised over Rs. 22 crore in external funding, with a combined annual revenue of Rs. 35 crore in FY25, reflecting a capital efficiency of more than 2X. The current cohort is expected to follow a similar trajectory, given the quality of early traction already visible across several ventures. Notable startups to have emerged from VIP include PlaySuper, is a real-money fantasy gaming and social competition platform raised Rs. 13.61 crore from the likes of Nazara Technologies and Chimera VC; SeedsAI, an AI-powered tool that helps startups ideate, validate, and build MVPs faster using generative technology raised Rs. 1.7 crores and Blue Brew, an Indian fashion label focused on well-fitted, timeless denim made for Indian body types has raised Rs. 36 lakhs. All of which have secured institutional rounds post-graduation.
Divya Gupta – Director of Investments, Aavishkaar Capital said, “I came in expecting student projects, but left blown away by real businesses, some already profitable, all built by students yet to graduate. The clarity, ambition and execution were exceptional. This is what hands-on business education should look like. Hats off to Masters’ Union for enabling it”
Shishir Maheshwari, Managing Director, Eversource Capital said, “A fantastic platform for early-stage startups to connect with serious capital. The quality of ventures and the level of investor engagement at Demo Day was on par with some of the best early-stage ecosystems we’ve seen.”
Parth Agarwal, founder and CEO of Cryptique said, “When we joined Masters’ Union, we came with an idea and curiosity. What we didn’t expect was the level of hands-on support – from refining the product, getting in front of customers, to access to investors we would have struggled to reach otherwise. The VIP programme helped us pressure-test the business in real conditions. The feedback, capital, and interest we received validated everything we have been building over the past year.”
Ishan Goyal, co-founder of JoyZee said, “Building JoyZee at Masters’ Union has been nothing short of transformative. The access to mentors, early users, and constant feedback helped us sharpen our proposition quickly. Demo Day gave us the rare opportunity to pitch to India’s top investors while still being students that kind of exposure is hard to find elsewhere.”
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