Venture Catalysts co-founder Apoorva Ranjan Sharma
Venture Catalysts, the Mumbai‑headquartered multi‑stage venture investing platform, has raised Rs 150 crore (around $17 million) in a funding round comprising a mix of primary and secondary transactions.
The company said the proceeds will be used for leadership expansion, the launch of new funds, technology upgrades, including AI‑enabled diligence and LP reporting, and geographic expansion across key startup hubs.
The company said that over the next few quarters, it will onboard senior talent across investing, product and platform, expand its suite of Category II alternative investment funds, and strengthen on‑ground coverage across startup corridors.
The round saw participation from a cross‑section of India’s capital markets and business community. New backers include Ashish Kacholia, Authum Investments, actor Aishwarya Rai, Karthik Sundar Iyer, Hardik Patel of Finquest, LNB Group, Mukul Agarwal, actor Shahrukh Khan’s family office, Sakal Media Group, Utpal Sheth and Vinod Dugar of RDB Group.
They join existing investors such as Radhakishan Damani (DMart), Kamal Agarwal (Haldiram’s), Enam Securities, Capri Global, Anil Singhvi (Zee Business), alongside founder‑investors Aman Gupta (boAt), Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Nirmit Parikh (Apna) and Srinath Ramakkrushnan (Zetwerk).
Founded in 2016 as an angel network, Venture Catalysts has evolved into a two‑pronged platform spanning a syndication business that deploys deal‑by‑deal capital through angel funds and a venture capital arm that co‑creates and incubates Category II AIFs with emerging managers and institutional anchors.
The group says it manages more than $500 million across vehicles, with approximately $200 million deployed via syndication over nine years from ultra-high-net-worth individuals, HNIs and family offices.
It said that its AIF lineup includes 100 Unicorns (erstwhile 9Unicorns), which is a sector‑agnostic idea‑stage accelerator fund with a corpus of $100 million. It was launched in 2021.
The lineup also includes growth‑stage fintech vehicle Beams Fintech Fund with a corpus of $90 million, which was launched in 2022; Elev8 Venture Partners, which made its final close at around $160 million and makes Series B to C investments; and proptech‑focused vehicle Spyre PropTech Venture Fund, which has a fund size of $50 million and was launched in 2025. It also operates VC Grid, an invite‑only community for family offices, corporate venture arms and UHNIs.
Venture Catalysts claims that over the past decade, it has backed 400‑plus companies across categories. These include BharatPe, Renee Cosmetics, InsuranceDekho, Assiduus Global, Wiom and Kissan Konnect.
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