EVALUATION AND INTRODUCTIONS FOR EARLY-STAGE INDIA

Most startups don't get rejected. They get ignored.

Apply once. We score you against a rubric we publish, we give you a written finding in twenty-one days, and if you clear the bar we put you in front of investors who write cheques directly. Free for founders. Always.

Cohort 01 open · Applications close 30 September
CASE NO.SW-01/0247
FILED14 Aug 2026
HEARD02 Sep 2026
SUNWAI SCORE00
FINDINGListed
WHY SUNWAI

A sunwai is a hearing. A proceeding where someone is obliged to listen to you and produce a finding.

Capital isn't what's scarce in India. Attention is. Forty thousand recognised startups are chasing the notice of a few hundred people who don't reply, and the standard outcome of applying for funding here isn't a no — it's nothing at all.

So we built the opposite. Everyone who applies is heard. Everyone is scored against the same published rubric. Everyone receives a written finding with their name and their case number on it, whether the answer is yes or no.

We are not a fund. We hold no capital, take no equity, and charge founders nothing.

BEFORE SCORING

Four things end an application early.

We'd rather tell you on day two than waste three weeks of yours.

  • Not incorporated in India as a private limited company or an LLP.
  • No founder working on it full-time.
  • A cap table where someone who isn't operating the business holds more than 30%.
  • Ongoing litigation or regulatory action you haven't disclosed to us.

Pre-revenue is fine. Pre-product is usually too early.

COHORT 01

Twenty minutes now. A real answer in twenty-one days.

Applications for Cohort 01 close on 30 September. The next window opens in January.

Start your application

Sunwai is a startup evaluation and introduction platform. It is not a SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Fund. It does not pool, hold or manage investor capital, does not solicit investment from the public, and does not provide investment advice.

Submitting an application does not guarantee evaluation, shortlisting, introduction to any investor, or investment. Any investment that follows is a private transaction agreed directly between the founder and the individual investor, on terms they set between themselves. Sunwai is not a party to it.

© 2026 Sunwai. A Fat Pig Ventures LLP company. Kolkata, India.