Startup accelerator 9Unicorns hires former Mckinsey exec to beef up team

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 23 Apr 2024
Credit: Thinkstock

Early-stage investment platform Venture Catalysts’ accelerator and incubator 9Unicorns has reinforced its team with the appointment of former Mckinsey & Company senior associate Lumani Shah as a principal in the firm.   

In her new role, Shah will drive strategic growth initiatives and aid the growth of the accelerator's portfolio companies, according to the firm’s statement.  

Shah is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business and is also a chartered accountant. She was previously part of McKinsey as a senior associate, where she advised clients across sectors including logistics, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and infrastructure services. She has also worked with EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of their deal advisory teams focused on financial due diligence.  

“Shah’s expertise in strategy development, financial analysis, and operational excellence will be instrumental in guiding our portfolio companies towards growth and success and executing investments,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder, and managing director, Venture Catalysts  

The appointment comes nearly a month after the firm appointed investor Vinod Keni as a partner. VCCircle had earlier reported the departure of former 9Unicorns partner Soham Avlani earlier this year after a stint of more than six years. 

9Unicorns is an investor in logistics unicorn Shiprocket, electric cab operator BluSmart, edtech unicorn Vedantu, revenue-based financing platform Klub, and gold loan platform Rupeek, among others. It marked its maiden fund’s fifth close in 2022 with a corpus of $100 million.   

The fund invests $300,000 to $1 million in startups in the first round, with an option to invest a further $500,000 to $2 million in successive rounds.