WTFund has announced its C1/25 cohort, featuring eight early-stage startups led by young founders tackling real-world problems across AI, health tech, security, manufacturing, and biomedical innovation. The new cohort reflects WTFund’s founder-first mission supporting India’s most promising under-25 entrepreneurs with non-dilutive capital, mentorship, and industry access.The selected startups Aeyi, antimattr, BloomRehab, O3 Security, Astraeus Innovus, Placestation, Prava, and Turocrates.ai will receive hands-on guidance, ecosystem exposure, and strategic support designed to help them scale responsibly at the earliest stages.
Why This Matters
India’s startup ecosystem is witnessing a generational shift:
- Young founders are solving deep, structural problems early in their careers
- Non-dilutive funding is emerging as a powerful alternative to traditional early equity dilution
- AI, health, and security are becoming priority sectors for long-term national and global impact
- Founder-first models enable experimentation without short-term valuation pressure
WTFund’s approach challenges conventional venture models by prioritising learning, resilience, and long-term value creation over rapid capital deployment.
Inside the C1/25 Cohort
The C1/25 cohort spans diverse, high-impact domains:
- AI & Automation – Building intelligent systems for real-world deployment
- Health & Biomedical Innovation – Improving outcomes, access, and rehabilitation
- Security & Infrastructure – Addressing digital and operational risk at scale
- Manufacturing & Applied Tech – Enhancing efficiency and next-gen production
Each startup has been selected for its clarity of problem-solving, technical depth, and founder ambition, reinforcing WTFund’s focus on substance over hype.
Strengthening the Ecosystem with Strategic Leadership
Alongside the cohort announcement, WTFund has named Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner at Accel India, as Strategic Advisor—a move that significantly strengthens the fund’s advisory bench.
With decades of experience backing category-defining companies, Prakash’s involvement adds strategic depth to WTFund’s mission of nurturing India’s next generation of founders, alongside the fund’s backing by Nikhil Kamath.
The Strategic Implication
With the C1/25 cohort, WTFund is positioned to:
- Support under-25 founders without early equity dilution
- Build a long-term innovation pipeline across critical sectors
- Offer mentorship-driven capital, not just financial support
- Create a safe runway for experimentation, learning, and iteration
- Redefine early-stage founder support in the Indian startup ecosystem
This model enables founders to focus on product-market fit and impact, rather than premature fundraising cycles.
WTFund’s C1/25 cohort reinforces a powerful idea: India’s most transformative founders don’t need dilution to start building they need belief, guidance, and access. By backing eight high-potential startups and strengthening its advisory leadership, WTFund continues to shape a more inclusive, thoughtful, and future-ready startup ecosystem.This isn’t just early-stage funding.It’s a long-term investment in India’s next generation of builders.
