Unless you've been living under a rock, you will have noted how much tougher it has become to raise funds in India in recent months. Once a torrent of Gangetic proportions, the pace of deal-making has now slowed down to a trickle.
On the bright side, however, the funding slow-down looks especially bad only because we're comparing it to 2021, when—as Masayoshi Son put it—investors were “drunk”.
However, let's consider the big picture.
Today, there are more venture investors than ever before. More and more talented founders are staying in India, not just to build "for Bharat”, but increasingly, for the world.
What’s the current state of VC funding in India?
India has established itself as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. And given China's ongoing regulatory battles with its own tech ecosystem, global investors are reassigning the majority of their China allocation to India.
That means more downstream capital will be available to founders in the foreseeable future.
Kunal Shah captured the generational opportunity in a tweet
In 2021, VCs invested $42B. Silicon Valley Bank reported that India-focused VC funds had achieved a new record of $14.1 billion in capital in the first half of 2022 with 75% of all funding going into consumer tech, fintech, and SaaS sectors.
Alas, during the second half of 2022, investors are nursing their over-investment hangover. But don't be fooled: VCs have plenty of dry powder to deploy, once the startup hunting season opens again.
Founders, use this slow-going time wisely:
- Compile a list of suitable investors.
- Get to know their investment focus.
- Try expanding your network so you can get warm intros.
For better or worse, common contacts or references remain the best way of connecting with VC funds. If you don't have a network, start building it. Be humble, learn fast and be of service to others. Hustle when you must.
As a founder, you want to adopt a methodic approach to fundraising. So, go ahead and build a pipeline of investors whose thesis is aligned with your mission.
Don't worry, Sketchnote has got your back. Use our Fundraising Template to get started, and check out the list of VCs and Angel Syndicates below for cues.
Good luck!
Our top VC Funds list
1. Accel Partners
Accel of Palo Alto, California, fame has been around the Indian ecosystem since 2008, when co-founders Prashanth Prakash and Subrata Mitra, merged Accel India with their seed investment firm Erasmic Ventures. A legend among legends, they have invested in 150+ startups since they set up shop. Check out their Accel Atoms program for pre-seed startups. You can raise $250K in an uncapped convertible note and get 1:1 mentoring from the best operators in the industry.
Key people behind it
Prashant Prakash - Founder
Subrata Mitra - Co-founder
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups from all sectors.
Portfolio
Flipkart, Ola, Freshworks, Swiggy, BookMyShow, Vedantu and 150+ more.
2. All In Capital
Founded by Kushal Bhagia (ex-First Cheque) and Aditya Singh, All In Capital is a next-generation VC fund that invests in Indian startups with the help of a community of founders. All In Capital is all about identifying the next generation of founders and support them through their company-building journey.
Key people behind it
Kushal Bhagia - Founder
Aditya Singh - Co-founder
Who is it for?
Pre-seed/seed-stage Indian startups
Portfolio
Meet Record, Spiti, Suitable.ai.
3. Kalaari Capital Partners
Kalaari Capital Partners is a Bengaluru-based venture capital firm created in 2006 and focused on early-stage startups. Aside from funding, they also support entrepreneurs with help from a powerful advisory team in the Bengaluru area.
Key people behind it
Vani Kola - Managing Director
Rajesh Raju - Managing Director
Avinash Ramanathan - Vice President
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups.
Portfolio
Instamojo, Urbanladder, Snapdeal, Zivame, Myntra.
4. Nexus Venture Partners
Nexus Venture Partners is one of the first VC funds created by Indian entrepreneurs and established in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Silicon Valley. Formed in 2006, Nexus it’s a pioneer in the country. They primarily focus on funding early-stage start-ups that excel in innovation and authenticity.
Key people behind it
Suvir Sujan - Co-Founder and Managing Director
Anup Gupta - Managing Director
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups focused on creating global technology products.
Portfolio
Snapdeal, Goodera, Zomato, Shopclues, Craftsvilla.
5. iSeed Capital
iSeed is India's first microVC backed by global founders such as Angelist founder Naval Ravikant. iSeed is powered by the AngelList back office. Moreover, iSeed's LPs can help portfolio companies scale. They can act as a bridge for Indian founders, who are increasingly targeting international customers and investors.
Key people behind it
Utsav Somani - Founder
Who is it for?
Early-stage Indian startups.
Portfolio
Rocketlane, Salesbook, Anar, Privado.
6. Blume Ventures
Blume Ventures is a Mumbai-based firm created in 2010 following the idea of a fast-paced firm that is institutionalized in its approach. They primarily focus on early-stage startups (pre-seed/seed).
Key people behind it
Karthik Reddy - Co-founder and Managing Partner
Sanjay Nath - Co-founder and Managing Partner
Sajith Pai - Director
Who is it for?
Tech-based startups in their earlier stages (seed to early) in any of the following sectors: Healthcare, financial services, travel, commerce and brands, jobs and education, digital media and entertainment, AI, analytics, SaaS, vertical software, agritech, security, robotics, IoT, blockchain, etc.
Portfolio
Dunzo, HealthAssure, Milkbasket, Unacademy, Instamojo, Procol, Cashify, TaxiForSure, Belong, among many others.
7. Together Fund
Together Fund is a founder-focused venture capital fund launched by Girish Mathrubootham (Founder and CEO of Freshworks) and Manav Garg (Founder and CEO of Eka Software). Its ethos is to support India’s best SaaS entrepreneurs in building and scaling products with support from a founder-led VC.
Key people behind it
Avinash Raghava - Venture Development
Shubham Gupta - Investment Advisor
Dushyant Mishra - Builder
Pratyush Choudhury - Builder
Who is it for?
Together Fund invests in SaaS, enterprise software, developer tools, open source software, cloud-native infrastructure and API-first businesses in seed, pre A or Series A stages.
Portfolio
Spendflo, Toplyne, Insightly, Bytebeam, Spry, Kula.
8. Chiratae Ventures
Chiratae Ventures was founded in 2006 by Sudhir Sethi and T. C. M. Sundaram as the Indian subsidiary of IDG Ventures. Since then, Chiratae Ventures has become one of the most prominent investors in the Indian ecosystem with over $1B in assets under management since inception and over 200 companies in its portfolio.
Key people behind it
Venkatesh Peddi - Managing Director
Ranjith Menon - Managing Director
Who is it for?
Seed, Early, and growth stage startups in Consumer Media & Technology, Software/SaaS, Health Tech, Fin Tech, Deep Tech.
Portfolio
FirstCry, Yatra, Curefit, Lenskart, Myntra, iProf, Zivame, Newgen, etc.
9. Elevation Capital
Elevation Capital (formerly known as SAIF Partners) seeks to invest in seed-stage, and later-stage companies in India, especially in the consumer, enterprise, crypto, SaaS and logistics sectors.
Key people behind it
Ravi Adusumalli - Founder and Co-Managing Partner
Mukul Arora - Co-Managing Partner
Who is it for?
Seed-stage, early-stage, and even later-stage Indian companies from any sector that are trying to solve an interesting problem.
Portfolio
Swiggy, Urban Company, Paytm, Sharechat, Meesho.
10. Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a US-based firm created in 2006 that invests in seed and early-stage companies in the United States, India and China.
Key people behind it
Tarun Davda - Managing Director
Who is it for?
The Indian branch of the firm focuses on companies in the Indian consumer and enterprise market that are in stages from seed up to Series B.
Portfolio
Quikr, Vogo, DailyNinja, Practo, Avail Finance, Ridlr, Limeroad, Chumbak, MoEngage, and Ola.
11. Kae Capital
Kae Capital is a sector agnostic fund which invests in early-stage teams that bring about innovative solutions for the existing gaps in markets. The team comes with 35+ cumulative years of VC investing and have invested in 100+ startups, and helps companies maximizes their potential.
Key people behind it
Sasha Mirchandani - Managing Partner and Founder
Gaurav Chaturvedi - Partner
Krishna Vinjamuri - Partner
Who is it for?
Early-stage tech-enabled startups who seek to disrupt sectors such as e-Commerce, Education, Healthcare, Consumer tech.
Portfolio
1mg, Porter, Fynd, Snapmint, Airwoot, Mayadata.
12. 3one4
3one4 invests in early-stage startups that are mission-oriented. Their follow horizontal themes such as consumer data, the evolution of consumption, and ambient intelligence that have feed-forward effects on India's economic development.
Key people behind it
Pranav Pai - Founder
Siddarth Pai- Founder
Anurag Ramdasan - Partner
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups in SaaS, Consumer Internet, Fintech, digital health, SMB digitization sectors.
Portfolio
Jupiter, Licious, Hyperfacce, Koo, Loco, Everstage, Inc42, Nektar, Yulu.
13. Titan Capital
Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal set up Titan Capital in 2015 to invest in world-class entrepreneurs looking to create a wide-scale positive impact on India and the world.
Key people behind it
Kunal Bahl - Co-Founder
Rohit Bansal - Co-Founder
Bipin Shah - Partner
Who is it for?
Titan Capital is an early-stage investor with a strong focus on the quality of a startup's founding team. They look for “passionate founders who are deeply committed to building their businesses and will be able to move mountains to reach their desired destination”.
Portfolio
Ola, Razorpay, Jupiter, Khatabook, Spenmo, Fashinza, GoMechanic, InVideo. Beardo, OnJuno.
14. Aavishkaar Capital
For founders looking for impact investment, look no further than Aavishkaar. Aavishkar Capital pioneered the venture capital approach of investing in early-stage enterprises in India in 2001, with a focus on geographies and sectors that were often overlooked. Aavishkaar Capital has gone on to close six funds since then, with close to half a billion dollars in AUM today.
Key people behind it
Vineet Rai - Founder and Managing Partner
Abhiskeh Mittal - Partner
Sushma Kaushik - Partner
Who is it for?
Aavishkaar's investment focus is on deep-rooted and ignored problems such as agriculure and financial services for the next half billion Indians.
Portfolio
Agrostar, Arohan, PayWell, Vortex, Swas Healthcare, Jaypore, Nepra.
15. SOSV
SOSV is a global multi-stage venture capital firm with more than $1.3 billion in assets under management. It makes over 300 investments per year, including 100+ pre-seed rounds in new startups. Its Orbit Startups arm focuses on growth and emerging markets, having made 17 investments in India last year.
Key people behind it
William Bao Bean - Managing Director at SOSV, Orbit Startups
Oscar Ramos - General Partner at SOSV, Orbit Startups
Who is it for?
Pre-seed and seed stage startups looking for partnerships to grow through SOSV's extensive network.
Portfolio
Kala Gato, Kiko Live, The Money Club, Supplynote.
16. 2am VC
2am VC is a sector agnostic, Gen Z centric, "India Only" early-stage venture fund led by experienced founders.
Key people
Brendan Rogers - Co-Founder and Partner
Hershel Mehta - Co-Founder and Partner
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups in India focused on India's Gen-Z consumers.
Portfolio
Karbon Card, Spare8, Attryb, Anahad, Invact, Burncal.
17. 9Unicorns
9Unicorns is India’s premier Accelerator VC. It invests in very early-stage startups, by providing initial capital of $150K - $500K as the first cheque, with further committed capital for deserving portfolio companies. 9Unicorns will fund 100+ early-stage startups in three years.
Key people
Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma - Co-Founder and Managing Director
Anuj Golecha - Co-Founder
Soham Avlani - Principal
Who is it for?
High-potential, early-stage businesses including but not limited to domains such as electric vehicles, mobility, AR, VR, AI, ML, fintech, retail, and FMCG.
Portfolio
Kala Gato, GeoIQ, Deepsync, Klub, Toch.
18. Lightbox Ventures
Lightbox is an early-stage VC firm partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs who are addressing unique challenges and opportunities in India's rapidly evolving consumer landscape with technology-led insights. The Lightbox team pairs operational expertise and an understanding of product and brand building, to help build differentiated companies.
Key people
Sandeep Murthy - Partner
Sid Talwar - Partner
Prashant Mehta - Partner
Who is it for?
Early-stage consumer tech startups.
Portfolio
Furlenco, Rebel Foods, Droom, Dunzo, Melorra.
19. Antler India
Part of a larger Antler ecosystem, Antler India is an active early-stage investor. The platform heavily bets on cohort-based approaches, including residency programs for entrepreneurs in the making. Besides the residency and fellowship, Antler India also offers pre-seed programs to help startuppers get going from "Day zero"
Key people
Rajiv Srivatsa - Partner
Nandini Vishwanath - Program Director
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups in India.
Portfolio
Xailient, Voloplay, Pathzero.
20. Sketchnote Partners
Sketchnote Partners invests in world-class founders and supports them all the way with advice on fundraising, product and team-related questions. Sketchnote Partners looks for early-stage startups whose product shows early signs of product market-fit.
Key people
Francisco de la Peña - Managing Director
Nicolas Campo - Partner
Who is it for?
Pre-seed, seed and pre-Series A
Preferred Sectors
Edtech, fintech, healthtech, e-commerce, SaaS.
Portfolio
Kala Gato, Adaptive Technologies, Middleware, Thinkerbell Labs, ADPlist.org.
Bonus - PeerCapital
PeerCapital is a new early-stage, tech first, multi sector, India focused venture capital equity fund. Rohit MA and his team are happy to get in the trenches, get dirty, and have fun with founders.
Key people
Rohit MA - Managing Director
Karthik Prabhakar - Managing Partner
Ankur Pahwa - Managing Partner
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups in India
Syndicates
1. Karthik Bhat - Force Ventures
Karthik is an early-stage focused investor who has been on both sides of the table. Over the last 17 years, he has been closely involved in building/advising high growth startups, as well as deploying risk capital to generate alpha across public and private asset classes.
Key people behind it
Karthik Bhat - Partner
Who is it for?
Exceptional founders in Pre-seed to pre-Series A startups who are working on building category defining startups.
Portfolio
Boat, Jar, Bounce, Auric, Finverv.
2. Dexter Angels
Dexter Angels is an exclusive network of select investors providing capital to early-stage startups. They partner with passionate entrepreneurs building ventures operating in large or new markets. They work together with the companies post-investment to help them grow.
Key people behind it
Tushar Agrawal - Partner
Ankit Saraf - Investment Associate
Who is it for?
Dexter Angels looks for ventures leveraging insights and solving large or new problems for their customers through scalable technology.
Portfolio
Jeevam Health, Healthy Sure, Omnivio, Rezo. ai, Multibhashi.
3. Adept Ventures
Adept Ventures' mantra is to come in early and partner with companies during their long journey. The microVC concentrates on making pre-seed and seed investments, and nurturing their portfolio startups with a network of co-investors. Adept is also sector agnostic, but leans towards industries where tech is an enabler.
Key people behind it
Prakhar Agarwal - Founder
Who is it for?
Pre-seed and seed startups in India.
Portfolio
InVideo, Vadham, Third Wave Coffee.
4. Supermorpheus Syndicate
Supermorpheus has a unique investing approach, with focus on building a next-gen wave of companies that are "conscious startups". The syndicate has a Singapore angel fund, and investments are mostly geography, sector and stage agnostic. Supermorpheus also has an internal growth accelerator with a four-month cohort-based program, exclusively for their portfolio companies.
Key people behind it
Sameer Guglani - Founder
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups.
Portfolio
TrulyMadly, Bonomi, Plum Benefits.
5. Inflection Point Ventures
Inflection Point Ventures is a Gurgaon-based, early-stage angel investing platform. Started in 2018, IPV works on offering both monetary and non-monetary assistance to startups. The syndicate has already invested in 130+ startups across sectors like healthcare, retail finance, supply chain and logistics and more.
Key people
Vinay Bansal - Founder and CEO
Ankur Mittal - Co-Founder and COO
Vinod Bansal - Co-Founder and CFO
Who is it for?
Early-stage startups.
Portfolio
Social Swag India, Growfitter, Homi Lab.
