National, 20 March 2024: Renowned start-up accelerator and community-builder PedalStart has announced the launch of its latest flagship initiative ‘PedalCircle’ – India’s first-of-its-kind cohort-based offline program focused on accelerating the journeys of early-stage start-ups from Proof-of-Concept (POC) to their maiden round of fundraising. This three-month-long groundbreaking in-person innovation hub program will be held in Bengaluru – India’s undisputed startup capital – from March to June 2024. It shall endeavor to empower selected founding teams through unparalleled access to knowledge, mentorship, market access, infrastructure, growth capital, and beyond – all aimed at fast-tracking and multiplying the progress of their ventures.

During the intensive, outcome-driven offline program, 25 selected start-ups will gain access to an expert support team and will be allowed to leverage PedalStart’s shared resources pool across functions like marketing, tech, legal, recruitment, etc. Furthermore, the startup founders will also be provided 1-to-1 mentorship sessions with various ex-founders and investors, tailored to their specific start-up’s needs and challenges, thus enabling exponential business growth and success. Notably, by the end of the program, 5 of the cohort startups will get the opportunity to receive pre-seed/seed investments in the  PedalStart network.

Speaking about the program, Manas Pal, Co-Founder, of PedalStart commented, “After the tremendous success of our previous online cohorts like Zero-to-One, One-to-N, etc., we at PedalStart are now looking to replicate the same via offline. To that end, we are delighted to introduce PedalCircle as the one-stop solution committed to bridging the numerous critical gaps faced by today’s start-ups in their early stages – including issues such as lack of right guidance from those who have built ventures from the grounds up earlier as well as the pressing requirements of resources, talent, and capital. Through the PedalCircle cohort, we will be accelerating the progress of the selected startups and essentially providing them a readymade launchpad for success. The participants will engage intensively at our Innovation Hub throughout the entire duration of the program, enabling them to learn collectively, avoid potential mistakes, and form strong long-term peer relationships that last well beyond the program itself”.

Aditya Darolia, Co-Founder, of PedalStart, adds, “In today’s day and age, startup success, especially in its initial phase, hinges on finding that sweet spot whereby a product or offering perfectly aligns with market demands. Many ventures stumble due to a lack of Product-Market Fit, while others struggle with financial constraints and resource crunch. With PedalCircle, we hope to change that scenario for the better and foster an enabling, supportive ecosystem for these passionate startup founders. And by doing so, the program will surely supercharge their entrepreneurial journeys”.