The Foundery Is Back — This Time It Wants Builders, Not Just Ideas

The Foundery is opening the doors to its second cohort, looking for experienced builders who may not yet have a startup idea — but have already shown they can create products, teams, businesses, communities or new categories.

Cofounded by Kishore Biyani, Nikhil Kamath and Ronnie Screwvala, the venture builder has opened applications for the next edition of its 90-day residential programme. Cohort 2 will begin on January 15, 2027, at The Foundery Sanctum in Alibaug.

Unlike a typical accelerator, applicants do not need to arrive with a finished business plan or compete through a conventional pitch contest. Selected cofounders explore opportunities from The Foundery’s Idea Vault and are matched according to their experience, strengths, conviction and category fit.

From there, they work through the full company-building process — developing the thesis, building the product, validating it with consumers and creating an operating business.

The programme brings capital, product expertise, consumer insight, branding, distribution, technology, operators and shared infrastructure around founders from the beginning. Cohort 2 will place greater emphasis on entrepreneurial experience and operating capabilities as The Foundery searches for people capable of taking ideas from concept to market quickly.

Its first cohort provides an early benchmark. During the previous 90-day residency, matched cofounders developed 18 companies that were later presented to investors at The Foundery FWD in Mumbai. Together, those businesses attracted more than ₹550 crore in non-binding expressions of investment interest at indicated valuations exceeding ₹1,400 crore.

For the second cohort, the proposition remains unusual: The Foundery is not simply looking for startups to accelerate. It is looking for people with the ability to build — and then surrounding them with the pieces needed to create the company itself.