India’s startup funding landscape is about to witness its biggest single-day investment event. PedalStart’s Hustlers’ Mela 3.0, hitting Bengaluru in late September 2025, promises to deploy ₹10 crores ($1.8M) across 10 carefully selected startups in just one day.
The Big Promise: $100K Per Startup
Here’s what makes this event a game-changer:
₹1 Crore Each: Ten startups will walk away with $100,000 pre-seed investments at market valuation. Not loans, not convertible notes – real equity funding.
200+ Investors in One Room: Picture 200+ angel investors, 50 VCs, and multiple family offices gathered for India’s largest founder-investor meetup. The networking alone is worth millions.
Scale Beyond Day One: Exceptional startups can secure soft commitments up to $250,000 for future seed rounds, turning one event into a pathway for sustained growth.
The PedalStart Difference: Where Numbers Tell the Story
PedalStart isn’t your average accelerator. From 10,000 annual applications, they select just 150-200 founders for their incubator (that’s a 2% acceptance rate). Only 12-15 startups make it to the accelerator with the coveted $100,000 investment.
The results? $24 million combined portfolio valuation built in three years, with portfolio companies generating over $6 million in revenue. Four startups have completed follow-up rounds with an average 2.5x valuation increase.
Notable portfolio wins include Newtral, BullAgritech, CredResolve, Nuvie, InsightAI, and Flowatt – spanning diverse sectors and proving the model works across industries.
The Selection Gauntlet: Three Calls to Glory
Getting into Hustlers’ Mela 3.0 isn’t easy:
- Call One: Analysts dive deep into your problem statement
- Call Two: VPs explore your founder journey and key insights
- Call Three: Industry experts evaluate your team and overall potential
Only the most promising startups survive this rigorous filter, ensuring investors see only premium deal flow.
Beyond the Hype: Real Impact
This isn’t just another pitch event. PedalStart operates across 18+ states with a 100-seat innovation hub in Bangalore. They’ve screened 40,000+ founders and accelerated 33 startups over an average of 8+ months each.
The backing comes from heavy hitters: Alok Bansal (PolicyBazaar), Ujjwal Bhandari (Google), Ankit Mehrotra (Dineout), and 30+ other industry leaders.
Why This Matters for Indian Startups
Hustlers’ Mela 3.0 solves a critical problem: connecting promising founders from across India – not just metro cities – with serious capital and mentorship. The transparent, merit-based selection process levels the playing field for innovative startups regardless of location or connections.
For investors, it offers pre-vetted, high-quality deal flow in a single, high-energy event format that maximizes due diligence efficiency.
The Bottom Line
While most startup events promise networking and learning, Hustlers’ Mela 3.0 delivers cold, hard cash – ₹10 crores of it. Combined with PedalStart’s proven track record of creating $24 million in portfolio value, this event represents a new standard for startup funding in India.
Applications are open now. For the 10 startups that make the cut, September 2025 could be the day everything changes.
Apply Now:
Startups: Application Form
Investors: Join PedalInvest
