India’s startup ecosystem is poised to receive a fresh growth catalyst as Nikhil Kamath and Kishore Biyani have collaborated to launch The Foundery, a first-of-its-kind business launchpad designed to identify, mentor, and co-build the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs.
Conceptualised as a co-founder factory, The Foundery functions as a hybrid of a school, accelerator, and venture studio, while compressing the early-stage startup journey into a 90-day immersive program. Through this structure, participants progress from concept to investible business under the guidance of seasoned mentors, investors, and operators.
“Most of what we call education was built for a world that doesn’t exist anymore. It teaches people to fit in when progress comes from those who don’t. MBAs create managers. We need people who can build, break, fail, and rebuild. The Foundery is for them—the ones who’d rather make their own path than follow someone else’s,” said Nikhil Kamath.
Reinforcing this vision, Kishore Biyani highlighted the experiential nature of the platform.
“This isn’t a classroom or an incubator,” added Kishore Biyani. “It’s a live business-building environment where entrepreneurs learn by creating, testing, failing, and evolving. We’re forging founders through experience, not theory.”
At The Foundery, participants collaborate closely with the Foundery team and mentors to convert ideas into investment-ready ventures. As part of the model, selected participants retain up to 25% equity in the businesses they help create, while successful ventures receive seed funding of up to Rs 4 crore along with continued strategic support after graduation.
Furthermore, The Foundery invites aspiring entrepreneurs, mid-career professionals, and early-stage founders who blend creativity with conviction. To ensure founder-first selection, the screening process prioritises potential over polish by evaluating applicants through idea articulation rounds, problem-solving challenges, and interviews that assess creativity, resilience, and founder mindset.
Importantly, the process focuses on identifying individuals who can grow into founders rather than those who merely excel at pitching.
“We’re looking for people who combine imagination with intent—those who can think differently and act decisively,” said Santosh Desai, who helped conceptualise The Foundery.
Supporting this mission, a diverse group of mentors will guide founders across opportunity design, validation, execution, and scale. These mentors include Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Founder and Operator, Paytm), Kunal Bahl (Founder and Investor, Snapdeal and Titan Capital), Aakash Chaudhry (Education Entrepreneur, Aakash), Mithun Sacheti (Consumer Brand Builder, CaratLane), Varun Berry (FMCG Operator, Britannia), Haresh Chawla (Media and Consumer Investor, True North and Viacom18), Aditya Sehgal (Global Operator, former FTSE 20 COO), Garima Deveshwar Bahl (Leadership and Culture Coach), Jacob Mathew (Design and Innovation Thinker), Ireena Vittal (Board Advisor), Rama Bijapurkar (Consumer Strategist and Author), and Aakrit Vaish (AI Entrepreneur and Investor), among others.
At the conclusion of each cohort, participants present their ventures at a Demo Day, where they pitch to a curated network of investors. Following this, selected businesses secure seed investment and gain access to The Foundery’s broader ecosystem.
Complementing the core business program, The Foundery also runs The School of Life, a reflective stream that explores the emotional and human dimensions of entrepreneurship while focusing on resilience, curiosity, and purpose.
