Top 47 Most Active Venture Capital Firms In India For Startups

Venture Capitalist in India are an essential part of startup ecosystem. Once a startup has reached it’s growth stage, it’s most important requirement is undoubtedly the backing by reliable investors and an ample amount of funding to scale up. Though the concept of starting up has gained momentum recently, but the small number of investors willing to show their trust and invest in new ventures has been a problem for startups. Many startups find it difficult to approach venture capitalists and quite a few times the investment structure of the investor is inadequate for the startup.

So this week we bring to you the much needed list of the most active institutional investors and capital funds in India along with their investment capacity, investment structure, investment industries and some of their most notable portfolio startups.

This article is part of our series on the essentials of starting up in India in which we had earlier compiled the Top 15 Accelerators, Top 20 Incubators and CoWorking spaces in India.

Helion Venture Partners 

Investing in technology-powered and consumer service businesses, Helion Ventures Partners is a $605 Mn Indian-focused, an early to mid-stage venture fund participating in future rounds of financing in syndication with other venture partners.

People You Should Know: Sandeep Fakun, Kanwaljit Singh.

Investment Structure: Invests between $2 Mn to $10 Mn in each company with less than $10 Mn in revenues.

Industries: Outsourcing, Mobile, Internet, Retail Services, Healthcare, Education and Financial Services.

Startups Funded: Yepme, MakemyTrip, NetAmbit, Komli, TAXI For Sure, PubMatic.

Contact Details: 8040183333, 01244615333, Email

Accel Partners 

Accel Partners founded in 1983 has global presence in Palo Alto, London , New York, China and India. Typical multi-stage investments in internet technology companies are made by Accel partners.

People You Should Know: Subrata Mitra, Prashanth Prakash and Mahendran Balachandran

Investment Structure: Invests between $0.5 Mn and $50 Mn in its portfolio companies.

Industries: Internet and Consumer Services, Infrastructure, Cloud -Enabled Services, Mobile and Software.

Startups Funded: Flipkart, BabyOye, Freshdesk, Book My Show, Zansaar, Probe, Myntra, CommonFloor.

Contact Details: 8041232551, 8043539800, Email

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Blume Ventures 

Venture capital firm, Blume Venture Advisor funds early-stage seed, startups, pre-series A, series B and late stage investments. Blume backs startups with both funding as well as active mentoring and support.

People You Should Know: Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath.

Investment Structure: Provides seed funding investments between $0.05 Mn – $0.3 Mn in seed stage. Also, provides follow-on investments to portfolio companies ranging from $.5Mn to $1.5Mn.

Industries: Mobile Applications, Telecommunications Equipment, Data Infrastructure, Internet and Software Sectors, Consumer Internet, Media, Research and Development

Startups Funded: Carbon Clean Solutions, EKI Communications, Audio Compass, Exotel, Printo.

Contact: Twitter

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Sequoia Capital India 

Sequoia Capital India specializes in investments in startup seed, early, mid, late, expansion, public and growth stage companies.

People You Should Know: Shailesh Lakhani and Shailendra Singh.

Investment Structure: SCI invests between $100,000 and $1 Mn in seed stage, between $1 Mn and $10 Mn in early stage and between $10 Mn and $100 Mn in growth stage companies.

Industries: Consumer, Energy, Financial, Healthcare, Outsourcing, Technology.

Startups Funded: JustDial, Knowlarity, Practo, iYogi, bankbazaar.com

Contact: 8041245880, 2240747272, 01149567200

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Nexus Venture Partners 

Nexus Venture Partners is a venture capital firm investing in early stage and growth stage startups across sectors in India and US.

People You Should Know: Suvir Sujan and Anup Gupta

Investment Structure: Invests between $0.5 Mn and $10 Mn in early growth stage companies. Also, makes investments upto $0.5 Mn in their seed program.

Industries: Mobile, Data Security, Big Data analytics, Infrastructure, Cloud, Storage, Internet, Rural Sector, Outsourced Services, Agribusiness, Energy, Media, Consumer and Business services, Technology.

Startups Funded: Snapdeal, Housing, Komli, ScaleArc, PubMatic, Delhivery.

Contact: 8049456600, 2266260000, Email

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Inventus Capital Partners 

With the sole goal of making new entrepreneurs successful, Inventus is a venture capital fund managed by entrepreneurs and industry-operating veterans.

People You Should Know: Samir Kumar and Kanwal Rekhi

Investment Structure: The firm does not invest in capital intensive companies. It typically leads the first venture round with $1 Mn to $2 Mn and as the businesses grow, it invests from $0.25 Mn up to $10 Mn.

Industries: Consumer, Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure, Media, Internet and Catalog Retail, Healthcare, Information Technology, Hardware and Equipment, Telecommunications etc.

Startups Funded: Poshmark, Savaari, Farfaria, Policy Bazaar.com, Insta Health Solutions, CBazaar.

Contact: +91 80 4125 6747, Email

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IDG Ventures 

Having a global network of technology venture funds with more than $4 billion, IDG Ventures India is a leading India-focused technology venture capital fund specializing in startups, early stage, growth stage and expansion stage companies.

People You Should Know: Manik Arora and Sudhir Sethi

Investment Structure: Invests in India-based companies and also in companies outside India. The firm invests between $1 Mn and $10 Mn.

Industries: Digital Consumer – Internet, Mobile, Media and Technology Enabled Consumer Services, Enterprise Software – SaaS, Software Products and Enterprise services, Engineering – Medical Devices, Clean-tech and IP-led Businesses

Startups Funded: UNBXD, Yatra.com, Myntra.com. FirstCry, Zivame, iProf,  Ozone Media.

Contact: +91 80 4043 4836, +91 11 3019 4145, Email

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Fidelity Growth Partners 

Fidelity Growth Partners India is the private equity arm of Fidelity International Limited focused on investing in India. Since 2008, FGPI has made several investments across sectors including Healthcare and Life Sciences, Technology, Consumer and Manufacturing.

People You should Know: Abhinav Sinha, Harsh Jhaveri

Investment Structure: Typically, FGPI invests between $10 Mn and $50 Mn for a minority stake in the company

Industries: Healthcare and Life Sciences, Technology, Consumer and Manufacturing

Startups Funded: Netmagic, Yebhi

Contact: Email

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Naspers 

Naspers is a leading multinational media group, incorporated in 1915 as a public limited liability company and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in September 1994. The group’s principal operations are in internet platforms (focusing on commerce, communities, content, communication and games), pay-television and the provision of related technologies and print media (including publishing, distribution and printing). The group’s most significant operations are located in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa, China, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and the Netherlands.

People You should Know: N/A

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Ecommerce, Print Media, Pay Television

Startups Funded: OLX, Flipkart

Contact: Twitter

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Steadview Capital 

Steadview is a leading alternative asset manager based in Hong Kong. The firm makes concentrated long-term investments across multiple industries

People You should Know: Ravi Mehta

Investment Structure: Early Stage Venture and Later Stage Venture Investments Industries: Ecommerce

Startups Funded: Olacabs, Flipkart, Saavn, Urban Ladder

Contact: Website

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Jungle Ventures 

Jungle Ventures is a Singapore based, entrepreneur backed venture firm that funds and helps startups scale across Asia Pacific. It invests in global startups that are solving problems relevant to Asia Pacific markets. It currently has investments in US, Singapore, India, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

People You should Know: Amit Anand, Subrata Mitra

Investment Structure: Venture Capital that does Seed and Early Stage Venture Investments

Industries: Ecommerce, Digital Media, Saas, Fintech, Big Data, Analytics, Enterprise

Startups Funded: Zipdial, Ekstop, Pokkt, Milaap

Contact: Email

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Zodius Capital 

Operational since 2011, Zodius typically develops one company every six months and works intensively with its portfolio company teams to “speed up” and “shape up” for exceptional growth and profitability.

People You should Know: Neeraj Bhargava, Gautam Patel

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Big Data and Analytics, Digital Media and Commerce, Education

Startups Funded: BigBasket, Culture Machine

Contact: Email

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Qualcomm Ventures 

Qualcomm Ventures is the investment arm of Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), a Fortune 500 company with operations across the globe.

People You should Know: Karthee Madasamy

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Business Software, Cloud/Enterprise, Consumer Software, Hardware, Health Care, Infrastructure, Semi/Components

Startups Funded: Appsdaily, Capillary, Deck, Portea, Housing

Contact: Website

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Warburg Pincus 

Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $37 Bn in assets under management. Its active portfolio of more than 120 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography.

People You should Know: Hari Ravichandran

Investment Structure: It emphasizes growth investing and has successfully built companies at all stages, from conceiving and creating venture capital opportunities, to providing capital to meet the needs of existing businesses, to investing in later-stage buyout transactions and special situations with unique characteristics.

Industries: Consumer, Industrial and Services, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Real Estate, Tech, Media, Telecommunications

Startups Funded: Lemon Tree, Biba, Quikr

Contact: +91 22 66451234

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Canaan Partners 

Global venture capital firm investing in people with visionary ideas, Canaan Partners specializes in all stages of development, seed financings, start-ups, growth and early stage investments, typically Series A and B financings.

People You Should Know: Wende Hutton

Investment Structure: The firm typically invests between $0.05 Mn to $80 Mn in its portfolio company. It prefers to exit its investments within 7 to 10 years.

Industries: Technology- Advertising & Marketing, Big Data/Cloud, Consumer, Enterprise/SaaS, FinTech, Hardware, Healthcare – Biopharma, digital Health & MedTech.

Startups Funded: Naaptol, Bharat Matrimony, iYogi, Happiest minds, mCARBON, CarTrade, Surewaves.

Contact: +91 124 4301841, Email

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SAIF Partners 

Investing in India since 2001, SAIF Partners specializes in private equity and venture capital across Asia.

People You Should Know: Mukul Arora & Mukul Singhal

Investment Structure: Invests between $10 Mn and $100 Mn in one or more rounds of financing with investments between $200,000 to $500,000 in early stage companies and between $30 Mn and $35 Mn in more mature unlisted ventures.

Industries: IT, ITes, Industrials, Financial Services, Internet, Consumer Product, Mobile

Startups Funded: Justdial.com, Paytm, Network18, HomeShop18, Book My Show.

Contact: +91 124 496 5500, Email

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Ascent Capital Advisors 

Ascent Capital, an India-focused independent private equity firm, is among the most experienced teams on ground with over 150+ years of collective experience in Indian capital markets.

People You Should Know: Raja Kumar

Investment Structure: The firm makes investments ranging from $10 Mn to $30 Mn.

Industries:Technology, Ecommerce, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Brands, Infrastructure

Startups Funded: Bigbasket.com, KIMS

Contact: +91 80 3055 1230, +91 80 3055 1231, Email

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Axon Partners Group 

Specialised in global emerging markets, the Group prefers to invest in technology focused companies in countries like Latam, Spain and India.

People You Should Know: Francisco Velázquez de Cuéllar

Investment Structure:  Invests from 100,000K to $25 Mn in growth phases, from seed capital to international expansion.

Industries: Games, Software, Security, Biotechnology, Telecommunications

Startups Funded: iYogi, ByHours.com, Hot Hotels.

Contact: Email

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Bain Capital Private Equity 

Bain Capital professionals in aggregate is the largest investor in every fund raised. Bain Capital, along with management teams, provides the strategic and analytic resources needed to build and grow great companies.

People You Should Know: Samonnoi Banerjee

Investment Structure: Invests between $5 Mn and $1 Bn in companies in wide range of Industries.

Industries: Consumer, Retail and Dining, Financial and business Services, Healthcare, Industrial and Energy, Technology, Media and Telecom.

Startups Funded: ASIMCO, BMC Software, Biglobe, Atento, BPL

Contact: +91-2267528000

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Basil Partners 

It’s a Venture Capital fund involved in Early Stage Venture Investments focusing on investing in India besides investing in North America, Europe and Asian Countries.

People You Should Know: Ramanan Raghavendran and Rajeev Srivastava.

Investment Structure: Investment is done in the range between $1 million and $ 5 million with minimum revenue of $5 million.

Industries: IT

Startups Funded: Endeavour Software Technologies, Karmic LifeSciences

Contact: www.basilpartners.com

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Battery Ventures 

Battery Ventures is based in Boston, Silicon Valley and invests in technology driven companies. With over 30 years of experience, this VC fund has deep pockets.

People You Should Know: Neeraj Agrawal

Investment Structure: They invest in all stages of a company’s life, are flexible in the amount of investment, and are creative when it comes to syndicating, finding alternate sources of money, and designing financing to best match businesses.

Industries: e-Commerce and Retail Digital Media, Industrial Technologies, Infrastructure, Software and Services.

Startups Funded: HackerRank, AppDynamics

Contact: Twitter

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Bessemer Venture Partners 

With great experience in investing, this 1911 founded company operates on a global scale with offices located in Israel, India and both coasts in the US.

People You Should Know: Raghav Bahl, Aakash Goel

Investment Structure: They invest in the range of $75,000 to $66 Mn.

Industries: Cyber Security, Financial Services, Mobile, Cleantech Cloud Computing

Startups Funded: Snapdeal, OnMobile

Contact: +91-80-3082-9000, Email

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Catamaran Investment Pvt Ltd 

Founded in 2010 is a private investment office headquartered in Bangalore, India and London, UK. It’s a INR 600 Cr. multi-stage, multi-sector fund.

People You Should Know: N R Narayana Murthy.

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Venture Capital & Private Equity

Startup Funded: Yebhi

Contact: Website

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Forum Synergies (India) PE Fund 

The company’s vision and mission is to be a unique, ethical private equity fund management model in India that provides investors with a best-in-class private equity model.

People You Should Know: Samir Inamdar

Investment Structure: Forum Synergies invests between between $2 – $10 Mn in firms with revenues between $3 – $50 Mn.

Industries: Healthcare, Automotive, Electronic Hardware, Electrical Equipment, Chemical Engineering, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, IT

Startups Funded: Zomato, Ola, Quikr, TaxiForSure, Commonfloor, Freecharge, Housing.

Contact: +91 80 4000 6400, Email

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Fulcrum Venture India 

Founded in 2000, Fulcrum is a private equity investor which focuses on the SME business opportunities.They prefer to invest in like-minded entrepreneurs with solid principles and objectives.

People You Should Know: Krishna Ramanathan, Ethan Khatri, Mahesh Shankaranarayanan

Investment Structure:The firm seeks to invest between INR 5 crores – INR 15 crores.

Industries: Education, Financial Services, FMCG, Healthcare, Niche Retail

Startups Funded: Shield Healthcare Private Limited , SwaaS Systems, Congruent Solutions Pvt Ltd

Contact: +91 22 6712 8484, +91 22 6712 8484

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General Atlantic LLC 

980, is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growing companies. It does Early Stage Venture, Later Stage Venture and Private Equity Investments.

People You Should Know: Sandeep Naik.

Investment Structure: Invests between $75 Mn and $400 Mn.

Industries: ECommerce, Software, Fashion, Cloud Computing, Curated Web

Startups Funded: Vox Media, Klarna, Citiustech, Squarespace.

Contact: Twitter

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India Quotient 

Launched in 2012, India Quotient is an early stage fund with a corpus of INR 30 Cr.

People You Should Know: Madhukar Sinha, Anand Lunia

Investment Structure: Venture Capital fund that does Seed Investments between 100k – 500k.

Industries: Education, Food and Travel, Mobile, Fashion, Lifestyle, Consumer Finance

Startups Funded: Grabhouse, FRSH, Roposo, Prettysecrets, DogSpot

Contact: Email

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Intel Capital 

The firm focuses on mergers, acquisitions, and equity investments related to tech startups. Till date, it has invested $10.7 Bn in over 1,250 companies in 52 countries.

People You Should Know: Pradeep Tagare, Bhavanipratap Rana, Amit Behl, Sudheer K Kuppam.

Investment Structure: Invest between $300 Mn and $500 Mn per year.

Industries: Internet-Digital Media, Manufacturing-Labs, Security, Smart Phones-Tablets, software and Services, Ultrabook-Perceptual Computing, Wearables

Startups Funded: Gigya, Hungama, Snapdeal

Contact: Website

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IvyCap Ventures 

Guided by an entrepreneur-centric investment approach, IvyCap focuses on high-quality professional entrepreneurs from premier education institutions of the country.

People You Should Know: Norbert Fernandes

Investment Structure: The Firm does Early Stage Venture Investments and invests between $0.3 Mn and $7 Mn.

Industries: Healthcare, Education, Technology, Commerce.

Startups Funded: Aujas Networks, Leixir, eShakti.com, Vinculum Solutions, FieldEZ

Contact: +91-22-67000567

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Kae Capital 

Kae Capital invests in those companies which bring  out innovative solutions for existing gaps in the markets.They believe in identifying and building large companies even from a concept.

People You Should Know: Navin Honagudi, Shashank Hirawat, Sasha Mirchandani, Nisa Mohamedi.

Investment Structure: Investment is made between $0.05 – $2.5 Mn and typically they invest between $0.2 – $1 Mn in the first round.

Industries: Mobile, Ecommerce, Education, Healthcare, Consumer, Internet

Startups Funded: SysCloud, ShepHertz, FortunePlay, Nuiku, Shopsense, Airwoot.

Contact: Email

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Kalaari Capital 

With a strong advisory team in Bangalore, Kalaari is a $160 Mn venture capital fund investing in early-stage technology-oriented companies in India. They seek companies that are capable of capturing new markets, providing innovative solutions and creating new wealth for India and beyond.

People You Should Know: Vani Kola, Sampath Kumar P., Rajesh Raju

Investment Structure:The firm invests $1Mn to $5Mn in technology savvy companies and technology-enabled services for India and the global markets.

Industries: ECommerce, Internet, Curated Web, cleantech.

Startups Funded: Mettl, UrbanLadder, Snapdeal, Zivame

Contact: Email, 080 67159600

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Lightbox Management Ltd 

India based Lightbox Management Ltd with an investment horizon of seven to eight years is a new $100 Mn tech fund focussed on early stage consumer technology businesses.

People You Should Know: Sandeep Murthy, Siddharth Talwar

Investment Structure: Invests between $3 Mn and $5 Mn in the consumer technology space with a focus on education technology.

Industries: Data & Analytics, Brand & Design, Product & Marketing, Culture & Company Building.

Startups Funded: Embibe, Cleartrip, GreenDust

Contact: Email

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Lightspeed Venture Partners 

Founded in 2000, Lightspeed Venture Partners investment company engages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets.

People You Should Know: Bejul Somaia, Dev Khare, Anshoo Sharma, Maninder Gulati.

Investment Structure: $1 to $25 Mn

Industries: Enterprise Software, Software, Mobile

Startups Funded: Eyeview, SimplyTapp, Luxe Valet, Vee, Blockchain, FiveStars, Gainsight.

Contact: +91 (11) 4980 0800, Email

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Lok Capital Group 

Gurgaon based Lok Capital initiative launched at the end of 2000 with support of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation specializes in bottom-of-pyramid customer segment investments.

People You Should Know: Rajiv B.Lall

Investment Structure: Invests between $1 Mn and $7 Mn

Industries: Education

Startups Funded: Hippocampus Learning Centres, Qed | Everest Edusys And Solutions

Contact:+91.11.3090.0100

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Matrix Partners India 

Mumbai Based Matrix Partners was founded in 1977, and is committed to build long-term relationships. With capital over INR 3000 Cr., they invest across sectors in India.

People You Should Know: Avnish Bajaj

Investment Structure: Invests INR 1 Cr. to 75 Cr.

Industries: Internet, Consumer internet, eCommerce, Travel, Internet, Consumer Internet, eCommerce, Travel, etc.

Startups Funded: NewsHunt, Quikr India, LimeTray, Hearing Plus, Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.), WeAreHolidays.

Contact: +91-22-67680000, Email

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Mayfield Fund 

One of the oldest Venture Capital Firms focusing on early-stage to growth-stage investments in information technology companies, in particular on enterprise software, Internet consumer & media services, and communications.

People You Should Know:  Vikram Godse, Navin Chaddha and James Beck.

Investment Structure: In India, it invests between $500,000 to $10 Mn

Industries: Consumer Services, Infrastructure Ancillaries, Healthcare Services, Manufacturing Opportunities

Startups Funded: Gigya, Lantern, IndiaProperty

Contact:+(91)-9867577504, Email

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New Enterprise Associates 

It’s one of the most largest and most active Venture Capital Firms which helps entrepreneurs to build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies.

People You Should Know: Krishna Kittu Kolluri, Tarun Sharma

Investment Structure: The firm seeks to invest between $0.05 Mn and $20 Mn in  Early Stage Venture, Later Stage Venture, Private Equity, Debt Financing.

Industries: Energy, Infrastructure Services, Consumer Services, Agriculture Sector, Systems, Software, Technology

Startups Funded: IndiaHomes, Forter, Inksedge, Blueshift Labs

Contact: +91-22-4223 5600

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NewPath Ventures, LLC 

New Path Ventures, LLC is a venture capital firm which specializes in seed stage, startups, and early stage investments. They prefer to invest in technology based startups in India and US.

People You Should Know: Vinod K. Dham, Tushar Anil Dave, Mahesh Karanth.

Investment Structure: It does Early Stage Venture and Later Stage Venture Investments.

Industries: Semiconductors, Curated Web

Startups Funded: Telsima, inSilica, Montalvo Systems

Contact: Website

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Nirvana Venture Advisors 

Nirvana Venture Advisors invests in early-­stage and market leading companies in the fast growing Indian internet and mobile segments.

People You Should Know: Amit Patni

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Internet and Mobile Fund, Large Markets,ecommerce, online travel, online advertising and marketing.

Startups Funded: KartRocket, Transerv, Reviews42

Contact: 91-22-6742-3800, Email

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Norwest Venture Partners 

NVP is an India-centric multi-stage investment firm that has partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 50 years.

People You Should Know: N/A

Investment Structure: It invests $1Mn to $30 Mn in early stage and $15 Mn-$100 Mn in growth equity companies depending on the growth of the company.

Industries: Internet, telecommunications, financial services, and education sector.

Startups Funded: Indusind Bank, Komli, Fashionandyou.com.

Contact: 91 22 6150 1111

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Ojas Venture Partners 

India based Venture Capital Ojas Venture Partners believes that for young startups to become successful, it is imperative for them to have the guidance of experienced professionals with in depth understanding of the marketplace.

People You Should Know: Dr Rajesh Srivathsa

Investment Structure: Typically, make an initial investment of $ 250,000 to $ 1.5 Mn and follow that in subsequent rounds up to a maximum of US $ 3 Mn per company over the life of the company.

Industries:  Mobile Technology and Applications, telecom, wireless technologies, enterprise software, SaaS, Web Applications/Services, Consumer Internet

Startups Funded: Tyfone, Vizury, Mango Techno, RiverSilica, CBazaar.

Contact: +91 80 4061 0300

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Seedfund 

This venture capital fund recognized the need for an early stage investment ecosystem in India and hence, focuses on investing in Indian startups.

People You Should Know: Shailesh Vikram Singh

Investment Structure: The firm seeks to invest between INR 1 Cr. ($0.19 Mn) and INR 25 Cr. ($4.67 Mn) in each portfolio company.

Industries: Internet, Media, Mobile, Telecommunications, Retail, Technology, Consumer

Startup Funded: Chumbak, Browntape, Heckyl, AxisRooms, Voonik.com.

Contact:  (+91) 120 319 2958

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SIDBI Venture Capital Limited 

It focuses on life sciences, clean technology, retailing, light engineering, food processing, information technology, infrastructure related services, healthcare, logistics and distribution, water and sanitation, agriculture, and education sectors.

Investment Structure: It invests between INR 5 Cr. to 25 Cr.

Industries: Ecommerce, SemiConductors.

Startups Funded: Printland, CircuitSutra Technologies, Skelta Software

Contact: 91 – 22 – 2652 7124 /25 /27 /28, Email

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Unitus Seed Fund 

Unitus Seed Fund is a seed stage venture fund based in Bangalore and Seattle which invests in developing markets with  primary focus on rural startups focusing on low income groups.

People You Should Know: Dave Richards, Will Poole

Investment Structure: It invests INR 50 Lakh to INR 1 Cr.

Industries: Education and Skilling, Healthcare, Mobile Commerce, Marketplaces and E-Commerce, Agriculture, Retail and Distribution, Water and Energy.

Startups Funded: Blowhorn, Addresshealth, mGaadi, Welcare, GoCoop, Medypal.

Contact: +91.80.4112.0008

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Utthishta 

A firm that seed funds for software, web, mobile, and cloud computing based Indian Startups, and also claims to provide a unique experience for entrepreneurs.

People You Should Know: Mohsin Khan, P.Ramakrishna.

Investment Structure: The firm seeks to invest between $0.02 Mn and $0.03 Mn per startup in return of equity stake between 10% and 15 %.

Industries: Software, Technology, Mobile, Web, Analytics, Cloud Computing

Startups Funded: Vaava

Contact: Website

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Ventureast Fund Advisors India Limited 

It is India’s longest standing venture capital firm investing in innovative businesses across seed, early and growth stages.

People You Should Know: Sarath Naru, Ramesh Alur, Siddhartha Das

Investment Structure: Typically invest $1 million to $10 million in multiple rounds, in businesses that employ technology to solve real-world problems.

Industries: Internet of Things (IOT), Financial services, Consumer- driven & retail, Cleantech, Digital healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences.

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Trifecta Capital Partners 

It is a INR 300 Cr. venture debt fund which is expected to be closed in next three to six months. It is also technically India’s first venture debt fund.

People You Should Know: Rahul Khanna, Nilesh Kothari

Investment Structure: The fund will invest between INR 5-15 Cr. for 16-18% borrowing cost, compounded annually in firms that have already raised a first or second round of funding.

Industries: Technology, Consumer, Internet Space

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Orios Venture Partners 

It’s a INR 300 Cr. and a 7-year, high-risk high-return fund, which is typical in early-stage investing. Software product startups are one of the key themes that Orios will be investing in.

People You Should Know: Rehan Yar Khan

Investment Structure: It invests INR 1-20 Cr. in a startup and intends to stay invested for seven years or more.

Industries: Not restricted to any particular segment, analytics, Big Data, software for mobile phones etc.

Startups Funded: Sapience Analysis, Ziffi

Contact: Email

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Unilazer 

It is a Mumbai based private equity and venture fund specialising in early stage and late stage investments

People You Should Know:  Ronnie Screwvala

Investment Structure: N/A

Industries: Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Ecommerce

Startups Funded: Maroosh, PIFA FC, Ektstop

Contact: Twitter

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 Tracxn Labs

Tracxn Labs is a California-based company that offers a startup research platform which tracks startups across many areas. It is a $13.5M venture capital firm. Founded in 2013, the venture capital tracks startups working in over 230 sectors which include enterprise infrastructure, technology, applications, consumer, mobile, etc.

People You Should Know– Abhishek Goyal, Neha Singh

Investment Structure – $50K-$60K to build an MVP and helps with an initial capital investment of $50K-$60K

Industries– Computer Software

Startups Funded-  indifi, Tavaga, Fabhotels, SlicePay

Contact Details – Email

 500 Startups

It is a global venture capital seed fund with a network of startup programs with over $350 Mn of assets under management. It is headquartered in the Silicon Valley. The venture capital has invested in over 2K companies through four global funds and 14 microfunds.

500 Startups is also aiming to contribute to the development of thriving innovation ecosystems around the world to better equip startups with tools to succeed by running educational programs, events and conferences, and partnerships with corporations and governments around the world.

People You Should Know- Dave McClure

Investment Structure- It typically invest between $25K-$250K  in its first check, however it also make selective follow-on investments at Series A/B of up to $1 Mn .

Industries- Design, Data, Distribution and Startups

Startups Funded- Brandtrack, WeDitIt, Backtype, ZipDial

Contact Details – Email

SoftBank Capital

SoftBank Capital is a multi-stage venture capital fund that partners with entrepreneurs building disruptive enduring businesses. The venture capital manages $600 Mn across three funds and invests across a company’s lifecycle, from early to growth stages. It is headquartered in New York, NY, United States. It was founded in 1995.

People you should know– Ron Fisher, Eric Hippeau, Steve Murray, and Michael Perlis.

Investment structure– NA

Industries– Biotechnology, Mobile, SaaS

Startups funded– Alibaba, Ola, Flipkart, Snapdeal,

Contact Details– Email

Brand Capital

Brand Capital has partnered in the building of over 850+ indigenous brands. It has enabled the introduction of new concepts of print advertising in the form of jackets, panorama adverts and flaps, emulated across other print media. Since its inception, Brand capital has helped build several iconic brands and create immense enterprise value.

In 2016, Brand Capital also formed a joint venture with GSVlabs, a global innovation center in Silicon Valley that accelerates startups. The partnership is aimed to target innovation in startups operating in Silicon Valley and India.

People You Should Know– Sam Subramaniam

Industries– Brand building, Funding, and Media Network

Startups Funded – HomeLane, Salebhai, NeoStencil, CityFurnish, Airmed Path Labs, Qtrove

Contact Details – Email

ah! Ventures

ah! Ventures is a growth catalyst that brings together promising businesses and investors by creating wealth creation opportunities for both. Its unique model serves both investors and entrepreneurs through a unique blend of customised services, skill, and industry and domain experience. The venture capital helps investors by offering a bundle of services that help in locating investment opportunities and facilitates decision making. The venture capital also creates an environment for growth for the entrepreneurs.

People You Should Know– Abhijeet Kumar, Harshad Lahoti

Investments – The venture capital has till date invested close to INR 30 Cr in over 13 startups spread across varied industries and domains.

Startups Funded – Unocoin, Aha Taxis, ShaadiSaga, Entropy Innovations (Exited in 2016)

Industries – Venture Consultancy, Venture Management and Operations, Developing Human Capital, Incubation, Venture Valuation, Venture Analytics, and Venture Funding

Contact Details – LinkedIn

Axilor Ventures

Axilor Ventures helps founders improve their success through its programs and a venture funding model. Axilor has invested in 38 startups,17 out of which are Seed and 21 Pre Seed investments.

Through its programs which include Accelerator, Scale-up and Early Stage Funding, Axilor aims to support early stage entrepreneurs and improve their odds of success.

People You Should Know – Kris Gopalakrishnan, SD Shibulal

Industries- Business Accelerator Programs, Mentoring and Infrastructure support for startups, Program for entrepreneurs in Residence, and Early Stage Funding for select startups

Startups Funded– Survaider, Appsfly.io, Pocket Aces, Pipecandy, Petoo

Contact Details– Email

Eight Roads Ventures

Eight Roads Ventures is a global investment firm. Eight Roads is the proprietary investment arm of FIL, Fidelity International Limited. Eight Roads Ventures invests in high-quality, high-growth companies in India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe and the US through country specific teams, with a focus on technology and healthcare. The Ventures team in India is committed to making the companies it invests in leaders in their industries through access to patient capital with a long-term investment mindset, a powerful network of resources and a global team of investment professionals with a proven track record of success.

People you should know – Raj Dugar, Prem Pavoor, Shweta Bhatia

Industries – Healthcare, Technology, Financial Services and Consumer.

Startups funded – Cipla Health, Eywa, Laurus Labs, Medwell Ventures, Trivitron Healthcare, icertis Inc, Manthan Systems, Toppr, Shadowfax, BankBazaar, Nothern Arc, Early Salary, Chai Point, Specsmakers, Greenlight Planet, Akulaku.

Contact Details [email protected], eightroads.com, @8roadsventures

Let’s Venture

Let’s Venture enables startups looking to raise money to create investment ready profiles online, and connect to accredited Investors. Founded in 2013, this online funding platform enables startups looking to raise seed capital to create investment ready profiles online and helps in connecting to accredited investors. LetsVenture enables Angel Investors, Family Offices and Funds to discover and invest in early-stage and growth startups. It is headquartered in Bangalore.

People You Should Know- Sanjay Jha, Shanti Mohan

Investment Structure– NA

Industries-  Healthcare, Education, Fintech

Startups Funded– aisle, INNOV8, WISHBERRY

Contact Details– (123)456-7890, Email

GrowX Ventures

Founded in 2008, GrowX Ventures is an investment firm that helps startups scale by investing money in the businesses. It is headquartered in New Delhi. The firm works closely with the investee companies at a strategic and operational level and focuses on early startups. The investments are focused on seed and angel stages across a wide range of sectors.

People You Should know– Sheetal Bahl

Investment Structure–  The firm invests between INR2.5 million ($0.04 million) to INR 25 million ($0.42 million).

Startups Funded– LOCUS, doxper, betterbutter, KYEPOT,Fynd

Contact Details– Email

[The article was last updated on July 12, 2018.]

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This is part of our special series, In Focus: Starting Up In India, in which we focus on the essentials every entrepreneur must know about starting up in India. Stay tuned for a comprehensive list of startup incubators in India coming later this week. 

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P.S.- You might also want to read:

TOP 5 VC firms fuelling startup dreams in the city of dreams – Mumbai ➔

Five Most Active Venture Capital Funds Of 2018 ➔

The 5 Most Active Venture Capital Firms From Bengaluru ➔

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