The Y Combinator of India? Nikhil Kamath and Kishore Biyani Bet Big on ‘The Foundery’

23 Dec 2025, 12:20 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

For years, the Indian startup ecosystem has looked towards Silicon Valley for the “YC gold standard.” Today, the tide might finally be turning toward the shores of Alibaug.

Nikhil Kamath, the billionaire architect of Zerodha, and Kishore Biyani, the retail patriarch who built the Future Group, have officially launched The Foundery. It is a bold, high-stakes experiment that many are already calling India’s homegrown answer to Y Combinator—but with a distinctly “Desi” twist of operational grit and venture-studio logic.

Positioned as a “co-founder factory,” The Foundery is a 90-day residential program in Alibaug that seeks to dismantle the traditional MBA-to-manager pipeline. Instead, it aims to forge a new breed of entrepreneurs who can “build, break, and rebuild” in a world that Kamath argues has outgrown the current education system.

Beyond the Podcast: The Buzz of Kamath & Biyani

Nikhil Kamath has been at the epicenter of a cultural and intellectual zeitgeist for over a year. From his viral ‘WTF is?’ podcast—which recently featured a high-octane episode with Elon Musk and a deep dive with macro-legend Ray Dalio—Kamath has transitioned from a fintech titan to a philosopher-king of the Indian startup ecosystem.

His philosophy has been clear: traditional degrees are becoming “obsolete.” This program is his thesis in action. Joining him is Kishore Biyani, the “Father of Modern Retail,” whose presence adds a layer of inter-generational wisdom. The duo recently appeared in a striking print ad standing beside an empty armchair, a symbolic invitation for India’s next big builders to take their seat.

The Blueprint: What is The Foundery?

The Foundery isn’t just an incubator; it’s a high-stakes, live-in business gauntlet. Here is how it breaks down:

The 90-Day Sprint: A fully residential program where participants move from a raw concept to an investible business.
The Equity Split: In a unique model, selected founders can retain up to 25% equity in the ventures they help build, ensuring skin in the game.
The War Chest: Successful startups graduating from the cohort are eligible for seed funding of up to ₹4 crore.
The “School of Life”: Beyond cap tables and AI stacks, the program includes a track focused on founder psychology, resilience, and decision-making.

A Star-Studded Mentorship Circle

The program leverages the massive “WTF” and “Think9” networks. Participants won’t just be learning from textbooks; they’ll be mentored by the titans of Indian industry, including:

Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm)
Kunal Bahl (Snapdeal & Titan Capital)
Mithun Sacheti (CaratLane)
Varun Berry (Britannia)

Giving Back: The New Dimension of Wealth

This initiative follows a pattern of “giving back” that has defined Kamath’s recent ventures. From his WTFund, which provides non-equity grants to young founders, to this “zero-tuition” model where participants are paid in capital and know-how rather than being charged fees, the focus has shifted toward democratizing opportunity. While there is a ₹5,000 registration fee (likely to filter for serious applicants), the actual 90-day program in Alibaug operates on a “Zero Tuition” model.

“Most of what we call education was built for a world that doesn’t exist anymore,” Kamath noted during the launch. “The Foundery is for those who’d rather make their own path than follow someone else’s.”

While Y-Combinator pioneered the “accelerator” model of high-volume, standardized growth for existing teams, Kamath and Biyani are attempting something far more bespoke and localized. Unlike YC, which primarily invests in teams that already have a product, The Foundery operates as a high-stakes venture studio where they essentially “manufacture” companies from scratch in a 90-day Alibaug pressure cooker. While YC offers a $500,000 global standard deal, The Foundery provides a more tailored ₹4 crore seed fund, a residential lifestyle, and a “School of Life” curriculum designed for the unique psychological demands of the Indian market. It isn’t just an Indian YC; it is a rejection of the traditional MBA pipeline, trading global scale for an intensive, hands-on apprenticeship under the country’s retail and fintech kings.

As applications stay open until mid-January 2026, the Indian startup scene is watching closely. Will this Alibaug experiment create the next unicorn, or more importantly, will it create the next generation of resilient Indian founders? Only time—and 90 days of intense building—will tell.