Bootstrapped to seed validation
We co-build startups and commerce-first brands, from zero.1
[1] “We co-found, fund, and grow consumer-focused startups alongside exceptional operators. We build systems, not heroics.” Hustle bohot ho gaya — now build repeatable engines
Consumer
Commerce
Fintech
Hardware
Science
Health
Climate
Mobility
Ghode race track ke liye hote hain.
We back thoroughbreds, not donkeys — execution over credentials, conviction over polish. That is the whole filter.
— The Split filter
In 2026, SPLIT set out to build a different kind of venture studio. Instead of writing cheques from a distance, or teaching founders from a stage, we do one thing: we put ten founders in one room in West Bengal, hand each a ₹1.5 crore cheque, and build ten ventures from zero alongside them over ninety days.
We co-found the product, brand, and go-to-market. We help close the first institutional round. We plug in the growth systems most founders waste a year rebuilding. And through all of it, the founder stays CEO and keeps the majority of their company. We build systems, not heroics — and we back the exceptional, not the average.
1 — On what makes a founder formidable
Co-found. Fund. Scale. In that order, and with you.
One conviction, run as three stages — hands in the work at every one.
Co-found
Rough idea to first launch
We build the product, brand, and go-to-market with you — in the room, not advised from a deck.
Fund
Deck to runway
A ₹1.5 crore cheque up front, then we help close the first institutional round — on your side of the table.
Scale
Programmatic growth
Distribution, retention, and brand architecture wired in as repeatable engines — systems, not heroics.
A ₹1.5 crore cheque. You keep the majority and stay CEO.
Identical terms across all ten seats. No side deals, no fine print.
₹1.5cr
Per founder,
up front
80%
You keep.
You stay CEO
20%
Split's stake,
fully aligned
1
Term, for
all ten seats
We invest first, then help you raise — when the round comes, we are on your side of the table.
The rails you don't rebuild. The lines you can't buy.
Most founders lose year one to plumbing. In the room, that year collapses into weeks.
Shared infrastructure
Already running when you arrive
Ops, legal, design, and growth are live on day one — the plumbing you'd otherwise waste a year rebuilding.
The network
Two years of intros, week one
The introductions that normally take two years to earn are made in your first week in the room.
The collective
Not a network group. The ten.
Nine other founders — same fire, different problems — become your unfair advantage. It is the ten.
Ventures on the bench.
Cohort 01 is being built now. Names and stories reveal when they ship.
Engineered for systemic scale
Architecture phase
Market-first expansion
Built like systems, shipped like products.
How we work across the studio. Full case studies publish when Cohort 01 ships.
Consumer products
Positioning to shelf
Naming, packaging, and launch strategy — from idea to market shelves.
Structural tech
Engineered to survive
Premium engineering systems built to outlast the market, not just enter it.
Distribution
System-first reach
Route-to-market and retail scaling designed as repeatable networks.
Experience
Retention economics
High-margin platforms tuned for repeat behaviour and compounding LTV.
One room. Ten seats.
Three taken, seven open — applications close 15 September 2026.
Paras Mani
Founder · SPLIT Labs
Builds operators, not audiences. The room he wished existed when he started.
Seat 01
Selected · Cohort 01
Founder reveal reserved. Portrait and venture land here when Cohort 01 ships.
Seat 02
Selected · Cohort 01
Founder reveal reserved. Portrait and venture land here when Cohort 01 ships.
Seat 03
Selected · Cohort 01
Founder reveal reserved. Portrait and venture land here when Cohort 01 ships.
?
Seat 04
Open · Take it
₹1.5 crore cheque. You keep the majority. Applications open now.
?
Seat 05
Open · Take it
₹1.5 crore cheque. You keep the majority. Applications open now.
It’s never too early to apply.
Cohort 01 · 10 seats · applications close 15 September 2026
Apply →