Several watershed moments have been witnessed in the Indian startup landscape within the past year. Investments in India have grown multitudes faster than any other startup ecosystem; Bain & Company reported a record growth year with VC funding reaching $38.5 billion. The Indian ecosystem value with 44 unicorns being minted, exceeding China’s 42 unicorns.
The venture capital firms can be credited as the powerful tailwinds that helped startups to progress forward and enabled them to become unicorns. Without the right funding at a critical time, startups might not have the catalyst they need to achieve growth. In this article, we have curated a list of the top venture capital firms in India that are driving investment momentum in India.
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What is a Venture Capitalist?
A venture capitalist (VC) is a private equity investor that provides funding to startups with high-growth potential in exchange for a stake in the company. It usually operates as a professionally managed venture capital firm that employs a committee to make investment decisions on behalf of partners who invest in the VC fund. These partners are typically made up of wealthy individual investors, foundations, insurance companies, corporate pension funds, and other parties.
The stage at which VCs fund startups is usually when firms are in the process of commercializing their idea or expanding nationally and globally. The VC fund will invest in these companies, nurture their growth, and look to exit with a high return on investment. As such, they would usually seek companies with a strong management team, a large potential market, and a unique product or service with a significant competitive advantage.
These venture capital firms are not looking for stable or safe companies, they want to invest in high-risk yet high-potential companies. They do so because they stand to profit handsomely should the companies succeed, receiving higher rates of return than they could earn through other investment vehicles. As such, venture capitalists also fail at a high rate due to the uncertainties of investing in unproven companies. However, the returns for those investments that do pay off are enormous.
Why Should You Raise Funds with Venture Capitalists in India?
Undeniably, access to funding is one of the major reasons you should consider raising funds with venture capitalists in India. For startup players, it is common knowledge that India currently stands as the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. However, this status might change within the upcoming years. According to The State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report 2022 by Inc42, India might soon achieve the status as the second-largest startup ecosystem by 2025, surpassing China. This statement is not without basis, as investments in Indian startups have increased at a 49% compound annual growth rate from 2014 to 2021, much greater than venture capital inflows in China. In 2021, India also witnessed significant participation from several global and local investors with an active investor count of 665.
Aside from the increase in the volume of venture capital, there is also a shift in the nature of deals. In the report by Bain & Company, there is an increasing tendency towards larger and more frequent transactions. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of deals increased from 809 to 1,545, with the average transaction doubling from $12.4 to $24.9 million. This signifies more opportunities to gain funding and higher startup valuations. It also indicates that VCs are confident that their investments would continue to give them positive returns.
On an additional note, the increase in investors' interest in India has been largely driven by the reform-minded government agencies that have actively implemented pro-startup policies at the state level. This has promoted a friendly and welcoming climate for both startups and investors, showcased by the spike in the number of Indian startups and unicorns. For instance, the Government of India has implemented an action plan featuring funding support and incentives, pushed for industry and academia partnerships, and rolled out startup-centric business policies that simplify the act of doing business in the country. With comprehensive governmental support and high investor confidence in the country's startups, ventures have much to gain from riding the momentum.
Seed to Early Stage VCs in India
The venture capital firms listed below mostly invest in seed to early-stage VCs in India. However, there are also some VCs that invest throughout all stages, including from Seed up to Series C. All quoted investment ranges are in US Dollars unless otherwise stated.
Founder: Adith Podhar
Year of Inception: 2018
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed
Focus: Consumer, Tech, SaaS, FinTech, Deep Tech
Investment Value: $250,000
Deals (as of 2022): 32
Notable Portfolio: Plum, Strata, Grip, Zuper, Finly, Inai
Founder: Prashanth Prakash and Subrata Mitra
Year of Inception: 1983 (2008 in India)
Stage: Pre Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B
Focus: Cloud, SaaS, Consumer, Enterprise, IT
Investment Value: $250,000 - $35 million
Deals (as of 2022): 49
Notable Portfolio: FlipKart, Freshworks, Chargebee, MindTickle
Founder: SD Shibulal, S Gopalakrishnan, Prof. Tarun Khanna, Srinath Batni, and Ganapathy Venugopal
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Seed
Focus: Agritech & Allied, B2B Commerce, Consumer Internet, Cleantech & Waste Management, Enterprise Tech / SaaS EV / Mobility, Fintech / Financial Services, Healthcare / Healthtech / Life Sciences, Supply Chain & Logistics
Investment Value: $500,000 - $750,000
Deals (as of 2022): 111
Notable Portfolio: QuickShift, MedFin, EnKash, Womaniya, Petoo, Lytyfy
Founder: Sasha Mirchandani
Year of Inception: 2010
Stage: Seed, Pre Series A
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Investment Value: ~ $3 million
Deals (as of 2022): 101
Notable Portfolio: 1MG, Healthkart, Nua, Porter, Squareyards, Myntra, InMobi
Founder: Sunil K Goyal, Sanjay Pande, and Girish Shivani
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Seed, Pre Series A
Focus: DeepTech, AI, IoT, Robotics, AR/VR/MR, Dev. Tools, Edge Cloud, Digital Products
Investment Value: $1 million - $10 million
Deals (as of 2022): 55
Notable Portfolio: Wiom, Dozee, IonEnergy, Cove IoT (KaHa), TWID (Fashalot)
Founder: Shashank Randev, Sanjay Mehta, Yagnesh Sanghrajka
Year of Inception: 2019
Stage: Seed, Pre Series A
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $150,000 - $1 million
Deals (as of 2022): 38
Notable Portfolio: Broomees, Pension Box, Pilk, Papa Pawsome, WayFr, Paperplane
Founder: Sateesh Andra, Abhishek Srivastava, and Dr. Ramesh Byrapaneni
Year of Inception: 2015
Stage: Seed, Pre Series A
Focus: Technology, Healthcare, Consumer
Investment Value: ~ $2 million
Deals (as of 2022): 49
Notable Portfolio: Aqua Exchange, Mylo, Expertia.AI, Sugar.fit, Sigtuple, Darwinbox
Founder: Suvir Sujan, Sandeep Singhal, and Naren Gupta
Year of Inception: 2006
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $100,000 - $15 million
Deals (as of 2022): 315
Notable Portfolio: Zomato, Apollo.io, Growth Book, Delhivery, Unacademy, Snapdeal, Rapido, OLX, Hasura, Urbanic, Zepto
Founder: Vani Kola
Year of Inception: 2006
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $100,000 - $15 million
Deals (as of 2022): 213
Notable Portfolio: Elevar, Blue Stone, Dubverse, Phable, Samosa Party, Simplilearn
Founder: Thomas J. Davis Jr.
Year of Inception: 1969 (2006 in India)
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Enterprise, Consumer, Human & Planetary Health, Semiconductors, Web 3.0
Investment Value: $7 million - $75 million
Deals (as of 2022): 631
Notable Portfolio: Agnikul, Fourcee, LendingKart, Securens, Simplilearn
Founder: Amit Patni and Rajan Mehra
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Internet, Mobile
Investment Value: $2 million - $40 million
Deals (as of 2022): 15
Notable Portfolio: Zopper, Kartrocket, Transerv, Unbxd, UrbanPro
Founder: Dave Richards and Will Poole
Year of Inception: 2012
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: JobTech, Healthcare, FinTech, AI, Education
Investment Value: $300,000 - $1 million
Deals (as of 2022): 72
Notable Portfolio: Bandhoo, Masai, Gigforce, Betterplace
Founder: Rehan Yar Khan
Year of Inception: 2013
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology, Software
Investment Value: $500,000 - $24 million
Deals (as of 2022): 96
Notable Portfolio: Country Delight, Bolo, Elda Health, ixigo, PharmEasy
Founder: -
Year of Inception: 2008
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Deep Tech, B2B
Investment Value: $100,000 - $750,000
Deals (as of 2022): 55
Notable Portfolio: Advantage Club, Cell Propulsion, Pixxel, MedPay
Founder: Rema Subramanian and Ritu Verma
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Digital Technology, Deep Science Technology
Investment Value: $1 million - $25 million
Deals (as of 2022): 56
Notable Portfolio: MyoWorks, ProjectHero, Ibisa, Offgrid Energy Labs
Founder: Anil Joshi and Bhaskar Majumdar
Year of Inception: 2015
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology, Consumer, Mobile & Internet, Enterprise & SaaS, Cloud & IT, Services (Outsourcing), Hardware
Investment Value: $60,000 - $1.2 million
Deals (as of 2022): 48
Notable Portfolio: Hubbler, Boxx.ai, Finin, Genrobotics, Inc42
Founder: Amit Singhal and Dhianu Das
Year of Inception: 2020
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Direct to Consumer
Investment Value: $100,000 - $350,000
Deals (as of 2022): 9
Notable Portfolio: Fabriclore, Wall Mantra, Shumee, Raskik
Founder: Neeraj Arora and Samir Sood
Year of Inception: 2010
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $1 million - $12 million
Deals (as of 2022): 72
Notable Portfolio: Grip, Moglix, Meesho, CureLink, Ivy Homes, Urban Yogi
Founder: Anirudh Damani
Year of Inception: 2013
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Investment Value: $250,000 - $3 million
Deals (as of 2022): 105
Notable Portfolio: Oyo Rooms, InstaSafe, Lyft, Maximojo, Tala
Founder: Kanwaljit Singh and Vinay Singh
Year of Inception: 2017
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Consumer
Investment Value: $2 million - $6 million
Deals (as of 2022): 70
Notable Portfolio: Mamaearth, Boat Lifestyle, Yogabar, Gynoveda, The Baker's Dozen
Founder: Alok Goyal, Rahul Chowdhri, and Ritesh Banglani
Year of Inception: 2016
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $1 million - $10 million
Deals (as of 2022): 62
Notable Portfolio: Ayu Health, CredFlow, Slintel, Mamaearth, MFine, Vogo
Founder: Pierre Omidyar
Year of Inception: 2004
Stage: Seed, Series A
Focus: Digital Society, Emerging Technology, Education, Financial Inclusion, Cities & Innovation, Property Inclusivity
Investment Value: $1 million - $3 million
Deals (as of 2022): 33
Notable Portfolio: 1MG, Novata, CredFlow, Goodera, HealthKart, iMerit, Vedantu
Founder: Vikram Gupta, Vishal Gauri, Sonia Gupta, Anju Gupta
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B
Focus: Technology, DeepTech, ConsumerTech, HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, Saas, Enterprise Tech
Investment Value: $500,000 - $35 million
Deals (as of 2022): 59
Notable Portfolio: Purplle, Blue Stone, eShakti, Biryani by Kilo, MiKo
Founder: Avnish Bajaj
Year of Inception: 2006
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B
Focus: Consumer, Enterprise
Investment Value: $2 million - $100 million
Deals (as of 2022): 188
Notable Portfolio: Country Delight, DSLR Technologies, RocketLane, DailyHunt, GoKwik, Itilite
Founder: Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath
Year of Inception: 2010
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology, AgriTech, B2B Services, BioTech, CleanTech, Commerce, DeepTech, Education, FinTech, Future of Work, Gaming, Healthcare, Media, Mobility, Real Estate, Retail, Social, Software/SaaS, Travel
Investment Value: $500,000 - $1.5 million
Deals (as of 2022): 299
Notable Portfolio: GreyOrange, Turtlemint, Unacademy, Purplle, Cashify, HealthifyMe
Founder: Don Valentine
Year of Inception: 1972 (2006 in India)
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: AI/ML, Consumer, Cryptocurrency, Enterprise, FinTech, Healthcare
Investment Value: $100,000 - $20 million
Deals (as of 2022): 605
Notable Portfolio: Faaso’s, FreeCharge, Grofers, HealthKart, Practo, Blinkit, Purplle, Meesho, Druva
Founder: Sudhir Sethi and TC Meenakshisundaram
Year of Inception: 2006
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer, Media & Technology, Software/SaaS, HealthTech, FinTech, Deep Tech
Investment Value: $4 million - $100 million
Deals (as of 2022): 196
Notable Portfolio: Cloudcherry, eShakti, uSens, Gamer DNA, Bizongo, Bounce, Bytelearn, Flipkart
Founder: Ravi Adusumalli
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Investment Value: $2 million - $30 million
Deals (as of 2022): 122
Notable Portfolio: Country Delight, Meesho, Sprinto, Mintifi, Acko, BookMyShow
Founder: Ravi Mhatre, Barry Eggers, and Peter Nieh
Year of Inception: 2000 (2007 in India)
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology, Consumer, Enterprise
Investment Value: $3 million - $140 million
Deals (as of 2022): 141
Notable Portfolio: Setu, Scrut Automation, Rattle, Bhanzu
Founder: -
Year of Inception: 1961 (2007 in India)
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer, Enterprise, Healthcare
Investment Value: $1 million - $75 million
Deals (as of 2022): 42
Notable Portfolio: Xyzo, Swiggi, Amagi, Finova Capital
Founder: Sarath Naru and Raghuveer Mendu
Year of Inception: 1997
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology, Life Sciences
Investment Value: $3 million - $25 million
Deals (as of 2022): 76
Notable Portfolio: Acko, 24 Mantra, Portea, MoEngage
Founder: Eyal Rabinovich
Year of Inception: 1969
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare
Investment Value: $10 million - $100 million
Deals (as of 2022): 61
Notable Portfolio: Oziva, MoEngage, Jiffy.ai, Ekincare, PharmEasy
Founder: Jinesh Shah, Mark Eliad Kahn, Atish Babu
Year of Inception: 2010
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: AgriFoodTech, Farmer Platforms & FinTech, B2B Agri Marketplace, Farm to Consumer Brands, Precision Agriculture, Post Harvest Technologies, Agrifood Life Sciences
Investment Value: $1 million - $12 million
Deals (as of 2022): 101
Notable Portfolio: Eruvaka, Mitra, Agrim, Krishify
Founder: Ash Lilani and Suresh Shanmugham
Year of Inception: 2012
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $1 million - $15 million
Deals (as of 2022): 65
Notable Portfolio: Blue Stone, Lendingkart, Big Basket, Paytm
Founder: Japan Vyas and Ravinder Vashist
Year of Inception: 2018
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer
Investment Value: $1 million - $10 million
Deals (as of 2022): 20
Notable Portfolio: RBL Bank, NSE, Smytten, Accio Robotics, Go Desi,
Founder: Nikhil Vora
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer
Investment Value: $2 million - $16 million
Deals (as of 2022): 62
Notable Portfolio: Bombay Shaving Company, Cult.fit, Just Dogs, Shop Kirana
Founder: Abhijeet Kumar and Harshad Lahoti
Year of Inception: 2009
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $1 million - $10 million
Deals (as of 2022): 96
Notable Portfolio: Exotel, Testbook, BabyChakra, NewsBytes
Type: Corporate VC
Year of Inception: 2017
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer EduTech Enterprise FinTech Frontier Tech Health Tech Logistics PropTech Transportation
Investment Value: $3 million - $250 million
Deals (as of 2022): 407
Notable Portfolio: Flipkart, GoMechanic, Oyo, Grofers
Type: Corporate VC
Year of Inception: 2005
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Retail, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Realty, Digital and Mobile, E-Retail, Health & Wellness, Financial Services, Consumer Services
Investment Value: $3 million - $25 million
Deals (as of 2022): 588
Notable Portfolio: MobiKwik, Faasos, SnapDeal, Flipkart
Type: Government VC
Year of Inception: 1999
Stage: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: MSME
Investment Value: $1 million - $30 million
Deals (as of 2022): 54
Notable Portfolio: Bill Desk, SuperZop, OmniActive, Momspresso
Early to Late Stage VCs in India
The venture capital firms listed below invest in early to later-stage VCs in India, including from Series A up to Series C and excluding startups at the Seed stage. All quoted investment ranges are in US Dollars unless otherwise stated.
Founder: Vishal Mehta and Venky Natarajan
Year of Inception: 2002
Stage: Series A, Series B
Focus: Finance, Health, Climate, Agri/Food & Beverages
Investment Value: $4 million - $45 million
Deals (as of 2022): 39
Notable Portfolio: Live Well, Idrishti, Mintifi, Vistaar
Founder: KP Balaraj, Sumir Chadha, SK Jain, and Sandeep Singhal
Year of Inception: 2000
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Technology
Investment Value: $25 million - $200 million
Deals (as of 2022): 42
Notable Portfolio: Fraazo, CEAT, Astral, Flipkart, IFB, Britannia, Videocon, VMart
Founder: Neeraj Bhargava
Year of Inception: 2011
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Digital Consumption, Business Services (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud)
Investment Value: $1 million - $30 million
Deals (as of 2022): 26
Notable Portfolio: MedGenome, Pepperfry, OfBusiness, Zivame, Fresh Menu
Founder: Henry Phipps
Year of Inception: 1911 (2006 in India)
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: Software, Technology, Consumer, Enterprise, Healthcare
Investment Value: $50 million -$300 million
Deals (as of 2022): 49
Notable Portfolio: Innoviti, PharmEasy, LivSpace, Pepper Content
Founder: Narayana Murthy
Year of Inception: 2010
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: E-commerce, Technology, Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Education
Investment Value: $2 million - $40 million
Deals (as of 2022): 21
Notable Portfolio: Udaan, NSE, Udemy, Marcellus
Founder: Sandeep Murthy and Siddharth Talwar
Year of Inception: 2014
Stage: Series B, Series C
Focus: Consumer
Investment Value: $5 million - $240 million
Deals (as of 2022): 49
Notable Portfolio: Truecaller, Cityflo, Bombay Shirt Company, PayMate
Type: Corporate VC
Year of Inception: 2000
Stage: Series A, Series B, Series C
Focus: 5G, AI, Automotive, Consumer, Enterprise & Cloud, IoT, XR/Metaverse
Investment Value: $15 million - $105 million
Deals (as of 2022): 18
Notable Portfolio: Boat, Ola, Capillary, FabHotels, Ninjacart
Closing Thoughts on Venture Capitalist Firms in India
As seen in this article, there are plenty of venture capitalist firms in India, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. As of 2022, there are over 800 venture capitalists that are operational in India. This makes choosing the right venture capital firm to partner with all the more challenging.
When making your selection, do investigate the venture capital firms and their track record. It is important to know the types of firms that the VC is experienced in and give considerable thought to the terms that the VC offers. Make sure that your vision is aligned with their ideals, as oftentimes startups would be required to concede a certain level of decision-making power to the VCs. Consider your objective and the type of support you might need that extends beyond financials. Most importantly, consider a VC who can help you in fulfilling your firm's future growth ambitions. To begin, do utilize the information in this article as the groundwork for your research into a suitable venture capitalist.
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