Latest news with #Masters'Union
Business Standard
02-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
150+ Venture Capitalists and Investors participate in Masters' Union Demo Day 2025
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." (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Hindustan Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Masters' Union celebrates 5 startups featured on Shark Tank India this season
Masters' Union, the Gurgaon-based new-age institution renowned for its industry-driven and practitioner-led approach to management and engineering education, has achieved a remarkable milestone--five student-founded startups from its community have been featured on Shark Tank India this season. This accomplishment underscores the institution's commitment to fostering real-world entrepreneurship through its innovative, hands-on learning model. Also read: Gurgaon land deal: 7 yrs on, hardly any progress in probe Project Clay, a mentorship platform connecting high school students with young professionals, secured funding of INR 15 lakh for a 10% equity stake from Namita Thapar. This investment highlights the platform's potential to revolutionize career guidance for students. Another standout venture, HiveSchool, specializing in sales training, received strategic advice from Aman Gupta to take their program offline. Demonstrating agility, HiveSchool launched India's first dedicated offline business school for sales education even before their episode aired, reflecting their commitment to addressing industry needs promptly. The five Masters' Union startups featured on Shark Tank India represent a diverse array of industries, showcasing the breadth of innovation within the community: * Bullspree - A stock market gaming app, making investing accessible and engaging through gamification. * HiveSchool - A sales school equipping students with practical training and industry exposure. * MemoTag - A healthtech solution offering real-time insights and alerts for dementia patients. * Nexera Health - A technology-driven platform providing end-to-end healthcare solutions for corporates in India and Southeast Asia. * Project Clay - A mentorship platform connecting high school students with young professionals to provide real-world career guidance. Three of these startups were founded by Masters' Union graduates, while the remaining two, Project Clay and Nexera Health are a part of the institution's startup community. Over the past five years, Masters' Union has incubated numerous startups, many of which have successfully scaled their operations. This success is driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture supported by world-class infrastructure, including AI labs in partnership with PwC, startup incubation hubs,mentorship from industry leaders, and investments in cutting-edge resources to help students build their ventures. Also read: HC bars online platforms from publishing woman's river rafting clip after she claims harassment What sets Masters' Union apart is its hands-on learning model. Instead of traditional exams, students are assessed based on real business outcomes--whether it's building an e-commerce business in their first term, launching a YouTube channel in the second, developing a blockchain protocol in the third, running a cloud kitchen in the fourth, or creating a hardware product in the fifth. Unlike traditional exams, assessments of students are based on key business metrics like ROI, profitability, and NPS, ensuring graduates leave with practical and industry-ready skills. Also read: FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds talks with US business leaders in San Francisco Masters' Union is a premium tech & business school based in the corporate district of Gurgaon. It was founded in 2020 with the philosophy of hands-on learning where students learn by doing. The leadership behind Masters' Union consists of graduates from Stanford, Wharton, and IITs and IIMs. Unlike traditional colleges, the faculty at Masters' Union comprises MDs, CXOs and AI Experts from companies such as Amazon, Apple, IBM, McKinsey, PwC, and KPMG. Additionally, the Institute also brings in faculty from the world's top-ranked universities such as Oxford & Harvard.
Business Standard
22-04-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Five Startups from Masters' Union Community Feature on Shark Tank India
VMPL New Delhi [India], April 22: Masters' Union, the Gurgaon-based new-age institution renowned for its industry-driven and practitioner-led approach to management and engineering education, has achieved a remarkable milestone--five student-founded startups from its community have been featured on Shark Tank India this season. This accomplishment underscores the institution's commitment to fostering real-world entrepreneurship through its innovative, hands-on learning model. Project Clay, a mentorship platform connecting high school students with young professionals, secured funding of INR 15 lakh for a 10% equity stake from Namita Thapar. This investment highlights the platform's potential to revolutionize career guidance for students. Another standout venture, HiveSchool, specializing in sales training, received strategic advice from Aman Gupta to take their program offline. Demonstrating agility, HiveSchool launched India's first dedicated offline business school for sales education even before their episode aired, reflecting their commitment to addressing industry needs promptly. The five Masters' Union startups featured on Shark Tank India represent a diverse array of industries, showcasing the breadth of innovation within the community: * Bullspree - A stock market gaming app, making investing accessible and engaging through gamification. * HiveSchool - A sales school equipping students with practical training and industry exposure. * MemoTag - A healthtech solution offering real-time insights and alerts for dementia patients. * Nexera Health - A technology-driven platform providing end-to-end healthcare solutions for corporates in India and Southeast Asia. * Project Clay - A mentorship platform connecting high school students with young professionals to provide real-world career guidance. Three of these startups were founded by Masters' Union graduates, while the remaining two, Project Clay and Nexera Health are a part of the institution's startup community. Over the past five years, Masters' Union has incubated numerous startups, many of which have successfully scaled their operations. This success is driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture supported by world-class infrastructure, including AI labs in partnership with PwC, startup incubation hubs,mentorship from industry leaders, and investments in cutting-edge resources to help students build their ventures. What sets Masters' Union apart is its hands-on learning model. Instead of traditional exams, students are assessed based on real business outcomes--whether it's building an e-commerce business in their first term, launching a YouTube channel in the second, developing a blockchain protocol in the third, running a cloud kitchen in the fourth, or creating a hardware product in the fifth. Unlike traditional exams, assessments of students are based on key business metrics like ROI, profitability, and NPS, ensuring graduates leave with practical and industry-ready skills. Pratham Mittal, founder of Masters' Union, emphasized, "Seeing five startups from our community pitch on Shark Tank India is a proud moment. It reaffirms our belief that when education is deeply connected to industry, innovation naturally follows. At Masters' Union, we don't just prepare students for jobs--we prepare them to lead and build. Our programs are designed to instill an entrepreneurial mindset that gives students the confidence and capability to start their own ventures, whether immediately or later in their careers. Last year alone, around 26 startups were launched by our graduates, and we aim to see this number grow. By challenging students with real-world business problems, we ensure they develop the resilience, problem-solving skills, and execution mindset needed to succeed in any business environment." About Masters' Union: Masters' Union is a premium tech & business school based in the corporate district of Gurgaon. It was founded in 2020 with the philosophy of hands-on learning where students learn by doing. The leadership behind Masters' Union consists of graduates from Stanford, Wharton, and IITs and IIMs. Unlike traditional colleges, the faculty at Masters' Union comprises MDs, CXOs and AI Experts from companies such as Amazon, Apple, IBM, McKinsey, PwC, and KPMG. Additionally, the Institute also brings in faculty from the world's top-ranked universities such as Oxford & Harvard. Visit
