VC Firm a99 To Launch Third Fund With $100 Mn Corpus

Early stage focussed VC firm a99 (formerly Artha99) is raising its third fund with a target corpus of $100 Mn (about INR 850 Cr).

With this fund, the firm aims to back 12-15 startups operating in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors with a cheque size in the range of $5 Mn to $10 Mn (INR 44 Cr to INR 88 Cr). 

The VC firm will focus on startups in the Pre-Series A to Series B stages, A99’s founder and managing partner Vignesh Shankar told Inc42. Besides, the VC firm has received soft commitments of $30 Mn from existing and new investors. 

a99 is aiming to announce the first close of the fund by April 2026, with no green shoe option. The development was first reported by YourStory. 

Shankar founded Artha99 (a99) in 2021 to back India’s manufacturing and infrastructure revolution. 

“As a Pre-Series A – Series A investor, a99 identifies and supports visionary founders building the backbone of India’s growth story — factories, supply chains, infrastructure and industrial technologies that will define the next century,” the managing partner said.

The Chennai-based firm launched Fund II in 2022, which had an initial target corpus of INR 50 Cr. It later exercised a greenshoe option, which increased the total corpus to INR 105 Cr. 

With its Fund II, the VC firm has invested in Aditya Avartan, Intangles, Innocule, EzerX, Lyzr.ai, and Raptee, to name a few. From Fund I, a99 invested in Vajro, Intents Mobi and Sarva. 

With this, the VC is looking to double down on its bets in the Indian manufacturing ecosystem at a time when the government is also promoting homegrown manufacturing. 

India’s “Make in India” movement has led to dramatic growth in mobile and electronics manufacturing. The country now manufactures over 325 Mn to 330 Mn mobile phones annually and has become the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer.

Startups are filling innovation gaps, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure, while VCs are fuelling this growth. 

A few months ago, Frinks AI, an AI-based manufacturing startup, raised $5.4 Mn funding from Prime Venture Partners in May. Similarly, manufacturing startup CapGrid Solutions bagged INR 29.16 Cr earlier this year in its extended Series A funding round. This round was led by its existing investor, Anicut Capital.

While these are just a few examples of the country’s growing manufacturing prowess, the Union Budget 2025 reaffirms India’s Make in India dreams, with a keen focus on solar PV (photovoltaic), batteries, electrolysers, and green energy hardware. 

Since its launch in 2014, the “Make in India” initiative has brought significant global manufacturing giants into the fold via extensive PLIs (Production-Linked Incentives) and state-level incentives. 

India has also become a hot bet for companies like Apple and Samsung, which are actively manufacturing their products here. Recently, reports surfaced that Apple was planning to ramp up its production of its iPhone 17 across all five factories in India. The company, like many other international manufacturing majors, is taking India’s help to reduce dependence on China.

Such a picturesque bodes well for investors, including VCs, who are betting big on Indian startups. In H1 2025 alone, Indian startups raised $5.7 Bn, up a modest 8% from $5.3 Bn raised in H1 2024.