Aeravti Ventures Marks First Close Of INR 100 Cr Maiden Fund For Early Stage Startups

Early stage venture capital (VC) firm Aeravti Ventures on Tuesday (May 30) announced the first close of its maiden INR 100 Cr fund focussed on emerging tech startups. 

In a statement, the Bengaluru-based firm said the fund will invest in pre-seed to pre-series A funding rounds of startups in sectors like deeptech, biosciences, agritech, climate, and enterprisetech in the next two to two-and-a-half years. However, it didn’t disclose the amount of funding raised for the maiden fund so far.

It must be noted that despite the ongoing funding winter and rout in valuations of tech companies globally, the interest of VCs and other investors towards emerging tech companies working in areas like electric vehicles, spacetech, drones, AI, and robotics has been increasing. 

Without disclosing the names, Aeravti Ventures said its maiden fund has already invested in two startups in deeptech and supply chain sectors. 

The statement also said that the fund is committed to back its portfolio companies with significant follow-on investments. 

“We aim to be more than a mere financial supporter for our portfolio companies, providing a holistic ecosystem to our founders, including clients, industry access, partnerships, operational guidance, and more,” said Shubham Jhuria, CFO and partner at Aeravti Ventures.

Led by general partners Jhuria and Rishabh Singh, Aeravti Ventures’ fund is supported by over 25 entrepreneur partners (EPs) consisting of founders and CXOs from across the globe, who possess diverse areas of expertise, the firm said.

While Aeravti Ventures is focussed on investing in new-age technologies, in terms of investment approach, it prefers to invest in businesses that value an “integrated triple bottom line” that considers the planet and its people.

“We support businesses that create impact as an inherent function of their operations, having it baked into their business model, rather than as an externality,” said Singh, managing partner at Aeravti Ventures.

Despite the funding winter, early and growth stage investors have been active in recent months. In April, V3 Ventures launched its operations in India and said it was looking to invest around INR 900 Cr in new-age digital brands in the country, along with other countries.

Recently, SEBI-registered sector-agnostic angel fund Real Time Angel Fund (RTAF) also announced the second close of its maiden fund at INR 125 Cr. 

3one4 Capital also closed its fourth early-stage investment fund, the Fund IV, at $200 Mn earlier this month.

As per Inc42 data, amid the doom and gloom of the funding crunch in the Indian startup ecosystem, 26 funds worth over $2 Bn were launched in the first four months of 2023 to invest in Indian startups.