The Foundery, the venture builder co-founded by Kishore Biyani, Nikhil Kamath and Ronnie Screwvala, has launched Foundery FWD, its annual investor showcase, bringing together 18 consumer companies developed through its 90-day residential venture-building programme in Alibaug.
The inaugural edition served as the first public market introduction for the cohort of companies created during the residency. Foundery FWD brought together founders, investors, operators and mentors to showcase businesses emerging from the programme.
The event featured 18 companies before more than 80 venture capital firms, funds and family offices, including Peak XV, Blume Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Fireside Ventures, Titan Capital, Unilever Ventures, Sharrp Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, Anthill Ventures, Gruhas, Kedaara Capital, ENAM Holdings, Capri Global, Ananta Capital, Sattva Family Office and others.
More than 600 founders, operators, investors and ecosystem builders attended the day-long showcase, making it one of the largest closed-door gatherings for an early-stage consumer venture showcase in India.
Designed as an immersive experience, the event enabled investors to engage with products and brands before formal presentations began. Guests sampled products, tested prototypes, interacted with founders and experienced demonstrations created by each participating company. Gaming brand TorqWars, for example, constructed a full-scale race track within the venue, allowing attendees to experience its product before the founder’s presentation.
During the event, founders delivered 18 investment pitches while investors remained engaged throughout more than six hours of presentations and interactions.
Foundery FWD also introduced a live investor interest platform that enabled investors to register non-binding expressions of interest in real time during each presentation. Participants could indicate prospective cheque sizes and valuation ranges, providing founders with immediate feedback on investor interest while creating a structured bridge to post-event discussions.
By the conclusion of the showcase, the platform had recorded more than ₹550 crore in non-binding expressions of investor interest across the 18 companies from more than 70 investors, representing indicated valuation interest exceeding ₹1,400 crore.
According to the organisers, the platform provided founders with immediate market signals, meaningful investor engagement and greater visibility into investor conviction following their presentations.
Speaking about the vision behind The Foundery, Kishore Biyani said: “The idea behind The Foundery was never just to build companies. It was to forge entrepreneurs who can build enduring businesses. Foundery FWD is where that philosophy meets the real world. It’s the first time founders present what they’ve built in just 90 days and demonstrate their preparedness to engage with the investor community.”
Nikhil Kamath added: “Not everything has to have the tag AI in it. If there’s a boom in productivity, consumption is likely to go up, and everything Indian selling in the world earns foreign exchange. These brands are built with the world in mind. India has a lot to offer, history, culture, handcrafted goods, royalty.. Packaging it in a palatable manner that the world can consume might have been what’s missing.”
Speaking about the larger ambition behind the initiative, Ronnie Screwvala said: “The ambition here is larger than building a handful of companies. We want to build a generation of Indian consumer brands that compete on a global stage. That takes more than capital – It takes sharp insight on design, technology, storytelling, distribution & culture and the kind of genuine long-term support that stays with founders well beyond day one. Foundery FWD is where those companies take that first step into the market.”
The event was hosted by actor and entrepreneur Sahiba Bali.
IDFC FIRST Bank participated as the Official Banking Partner, Broadway as the Official Launch Partner and Juspay as the Fintech Partner. The partners supported various aspects of the Foundery FWD experience, including banking, payments and market access for the inaugural cohort.
Following the showcase, all 18 participating companies are scheduled to launch on Broadway, providing the cohort with an immediate route to market.
The Foundery said Foundery FWD is intended to become an annual milestone for every company developed through its venture-building programme, with each new cohort culminating in the investor showcase as their first introduction to the market.
