Agents of Change Entrepreneurs

Fully-funded six-month accelerator program for idea-stage entrepreneurs seeking to solve hard problems

Cohort 2024 - Apply now

Cohort 2023

Why ACE

Develop entrepreneurs passionate to take up difficult but important problems and build scalable solutions to them through a first principles thinking and multi-disciplinary approach, to have an ecosystem impact.

Offerings:

Unrestricted funding upto ₹20 Lakhs
120+ hours of 1:1 mentoring from experienced founders & product leaders
Mock pitch to real investors
Free office space + aws, zoho credits
Strong network of industry experts
Support with recruiting, finance & legal compliances

About ACE

Engaging High touch program

Work with the founders and mentors for 6 months in a co-located office space from idea discovery to pilot, and scale.

Funding at idea-stage

Receive a fellowship of ₹6 Lakhs ( ₹1 lakh/month) upto ₹20 Lakhs based on progress. Additionally, over ₹10 Lakhs worth of perks, including office space, HR/Finance support, AWS credits, and more.

Leverage strong connections

Work & get support from seasoned entrepreneurs, domain experts and mentors for problem solving & execution. You are never alone in this journey!

Cohort 2024 Theme

NextGen AI

Building B2C/B2B AI tools for work efficiency and creativity
(Archetypes: Sensetime, Skit.AI)

Know More

Social Impact

Nonprofits that seek to solve a big problem by smart interventions

(Archetypes: ImpactGuru, Samagra)

Know More

ACE will support both for-profits and non-profits.

ACE Timeline

Invitation for applications

Start Date: 1st September

Idea Brainstorming Sessions with mentors & founders

Start Date: February 2024

Cohort Starts

Start Date: June 2024

Online startup bootcamp & 1x1 nurturing sessions with founders

Start Date: 1st October

One week in-house program & offer

Start Date: April 2024

We will help you bring your startup idea to life and take it to new heights.

ACE Founders

Varun Aggarwal

Founder, Aspiring Minds with $100M exit, MIT alum

Shailendra Nath Jha

Product leader, ex-MMT, Spinny,

ISB alum

Shubham Bansal

Founder Leapclub.in - a YC backed startup, EPFL & IITD alum

ACE Team

Vindhya Agrawal

Jitesh Bhasin

Akshat Grover

ACE Mentors

Himanshu Aggarwal

CDO - SHL, co-founder & CEO - Aspiring Minds, Investor

Akshaya Saxena

co-CEO & co-founder at Avanti Fellows

Saurabh Deorah

CEO and Co-Founder at Advantage Club

Mayur Chaudhary

Global Head, UxDesign & Research, OLX Autos, ex-Myntra, Microsoft, Cisco

Soumitro Ganguly

Adtech & Martech leader, Amazon, ex-CarDekho

Mukul Singhal

Co-founder, Partner at Parvega Ventures

Vibhu Bhushan

Co-founder Gradeup (acquired by Byjus), ex-Yahoo, ex-Naukri

Anirudh Maitra

Product at WhatsApp (Meta), ex-Google, MakeMyTrip

Vikram Sharma

Co-Founder and CEO at Wify

Toshit Bharara

Senior Commercial Director - APAC at foodpanda | Ex Zomato, BCG, ITC

Hanisha Vaswani

Founder and Managing Partner, Majority- early stage impact fund

Kavita Gupta

Senior Director Client Development at Kantar

Tarun Bhalla

Founder & CEO at Avishkaar

Abhimanyu Bish

ex CEO - Venture Catalyst, Raising his own fund

Bigyan Bista

Biotech Investor, MIT Alum

Tarun Cherukuri

Co-Founder and CEO at Indus Action

Pranav Bhasin

Director Product & Engineering, Amazon, ex-MMT, Trilogy & entrepreneur

Jairaj Bhattacharya

Managing Director at ConveGenius Group

Ashish Dua

Principal Product Manager at Amazon, ex-Wynk Music, MakeMyTrip

Jinen Shah

Founder@AltX Ventures, YC Alum

ACE Cohort 2023 Testimonials

What are the criteria for selection?

Smart & determined final year students or fresh graduates (0-2 years of experience) Passionate about solving big problems & building products. Strong demonstrable entrepreneurial qualities. Living or willing to move to Delhi-NCR for their startup journey.
I am a first/second year student. Can I apply?

This is an on-site program, so you have to attend the program in person. If your college allows you to do that- then you can.
I'm not a student. I passed out recently or dropped out of college. Can I still apply for it?

Yes
I'm currently not staying in Delhi. Can I still apply?

Yes. Our program is an on-site program, so you need to be in Delhi-NCR for the program. Also, all entrepreneurs in ACE need to build and locate the headquarters of their company in NCR.
I don't currently have a running business but just an idea. Can I apply?

Yes
Do I need to register as an organization before applying?

No
Can I apply twice - with two different ideas?

No. We will only accept one application from one individual. We are investing in people, not idea at this stage.
What about my intellectual property? How do I make sure that my idea will not be stolen?

Ideas are cheap and free. Any IP you create remains exclusively your possession.
How do I use the 6L rupees?

You will be provided a 1L per month fellowship amount. We strongly recommend that 60-70% of this amount is used as investment in your idea/company, while the rest is used as personal stipend. In case, your idea makes fast progress, you could get advance payment of full or part of your fellowship amount, on approval of the investment committee.
What other benefits will I get apart from the fellowship amount?

All selected founders will be provided with mentorship from various domain experts, office space, legal and accounting support, tech and digital marketing support, co hort based learning opportunity and much more.
We are a team of 3 students. Will all of us get the fellowship amount or is it for a team?

Fellowship amount for a team/individuals will remain same, a total of 6L that is 1L per month. We ideally encourage teams of two people. The whole team can join the fellowship program.
How do I fund my startup beyond 6L?

ACE has a larger corpus of money to invest in ideas based on their progress. ACE will invest money during the program at 0.33% for every 1L. We may invest up to 15L more at this valuation. ACE and its network may invest further, based on market valuations.
Will selected founders be provided with accommodation facility during the program?

ACE program will offer only office facility and not accommodation facility.
Do I get help with registering company, shareholder agreement writing, term sheets or other legal/company help?

Yes, we will have empaneled experts for these at highly discounted prices.
When will the program start?

June - 2023
Can I participate in ACE program and simultaneously work in my full time job?

No, our program is an on-site program, so you need to be in Delhi-NCR for the program. Also, all entrepreneurs in ACE need to build and locate the headquarters of their company in NCR.
Do I have to be at the ACE office location for the entire period of 6 months?

Yes. Plus the office space will be available up to 5 members (inc you) during the period of fellowship and three months after that.
What is a typical day like for the ACErs during the 6 month period?

You will be having detailed mentoring sessions every few days in the week and you will get to apply those concepts learnt into your startups.
Can I get assistance from another accelerator while I'm a part of the ACE program?

Since, ACE is a full-time onsite program, getting into another parallel program is not feasible.
Can I look for a co-founder while I'm in the program? Will he/she also get the same fellowship?

Yes, you can look for a co-founder within the cohort or outside. The person can work in ACE office, once s/he is a part of the team. The fellowship amount is only for you.
What if my startup idea is going nowhere?

In such case, one option is that the duration of the program be elongated by 3 months. The total fellowship amount will remain 6L and not be increased. The other option is the candidates decides to quit the program. One of the two options will be decided mutually between ACE and entrepreneur.
What if I quit in between because of external reasons?

ACE considers quitting the program in between for financial upside/job as breach of trust and unexpected situation. If the fellow quits in between the program due to external reasons, say, such as taking a job, the candidate must return 70% of the fellowship amount provided to him/her.
What happens at the end of the program?

At the end, we introduce you to external investors and you raise a round and set off to your journey.
Will we be connected to some angel investors at the end of the program?

Yes
Will the incubates be offered guidance even after the program?

Yes, there will be monthly cohort interactions for the next one year and then quarterly. We will create WhatsApp groups for quick conversations within the cohort.
What if I do a startup after the end of the program or after quitting it?

You are free to do a startup without involvement of ACE after completing the program or quitting it. However, if the idea is the one actively discussed/developed at ACE program, by you or another cohort member, it is a joint IP with ACE. We will claim up to 10% of your company for using the IP co-developed by us.