Artha India Ventures (AIV) on Monday announced the first close of Rs 250 crore for its Artha Venture Fund II (AVF II), with a total fund size of Rs 500 crore and a Rs 100 crore green-shoe option. AVF II, the family office's second micro-VC fund, will invest in 36 seed-stage startups across four themes — premium consumption, fintech infrastructure, applied artificial intelligence (AI), and deep tech.
The fund will deploy initial cheques of Rs 4 crore and double down with Rs 8-16 crore in follow-on investments under its proprietary 1-2-4 model. This structure allows startups to raise up to Rs 28 crore from a single fund. AIV will target 15-20% ownership in its top portfolio companies and will operate on a four-year deployment cycle, its managing partner, Anirudh A Damani, told ET.
The family office said the fund will remain 80% domestic and 20% global, with 90% of first-close commitments coming from Indian LPs, family offices, and exited founders. The remaining 10% will be from international investors. Early backers of AVF II include the Shahi Group, Narendra Karnawat (Glance Finance), DSP Family Office, and several founders from Artha’s earlier investments.
Damani said that with pre-initial public offering (IPO) funds, micro equities, stock markets, and tech IPOs saturating, investors are moving back to earlier-stage opportunities. “The next 12 months are a period of recalibration and resetting of valuations. Funds that started in 2021-23 with excess liquidity are now struggling to raise follow-on funds. This will remove some funds from the market, creating a healthier ecosystem based on the right metrics.”
He added that by next year, the ecosystem will see 100-150 seed deals per month — going back to earlier days. For fund two, Artha has already warehoused five companies and has six more in the pipeline. “By the end of this year, we intend to have 10 companies in Fund II, which is the fastest deployment in our history,” Damani said.
AVF II is expected to close the final round of Rs 500 crore by March-June 2026. He said that during this period, the "tourist founders" have exited the ecosystem, leaving serious entrepreneurs focussed on building sustainable, capital-efficient businesses.
Some of the startups that the first fund backed include Agnikul Cosmos, Everest Fleet, LenDenClub, and InstaAstro. Artha also closed its new Artha Select Fund (ASF) at Rs 432 crore in August, backing the top 15% of its 135-portfolio companies and writing Series B and C cheques of around Rs 20 crore each.
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The fund will deploy initial cheques of Rs 4 crore and double down with Rs 8-16 crore in follow-on investments under its proprietary 1-2-4 model. This structure allows startups to raise up to Rs 28 crore from a single fund. AIV will target 15-20% ownership in its top portfolio companies and will operate on a four-year deployment cycle, its managing partner, Anirudh A Damani, told ET.
The family office said the fund will remain 80% domestic and 20% global, with 90% of first-close commitments coming from Indian LPs, family offices, and exited founders. The remaining 10% will be from international investors. Early backers of AVF II include the Shahi Group, Narendra Karnawat (Glance Finance), DSP Family Office, and several founders from Artha’s earlier investments.
Damani said that with pre-initial public offering (IPO) funds, micro equities, stock markets, and tech IPOs saturating, investors are moving back to earlier-stage opportunities. “The next 12 months are a period of recalibration and resetting of valuations. Funds that started in 2021-23 with excess liquidity are now struggling to raise follow-on funds. This will remove some funds from the market, creating a healthier ecosystem based on the right metrics.”
He added that by next year, the ecosystem will see 100-150 seed deals per month — going back to earlier days. For fund two, Artha has already warehoused five companies and has six more in the pipeline. “By the end of this year, we intend to have 10 companies in Fund II, which is the fastest deployment in our history,” Damani said.
AVF II is expected to close the final round of Rs 500 crore by March-June 2026. He said that during this period, the "tourist founders" have exited the ecosystem, leaving serious entrepreneurs focussed on building sustainable, capital-efficient businesses.
Some of the startups that the first fund backed include Agnikul Cosmos, Everest Fleet, LenDenClub, and InstaAstro. Artha also closed its new Artha Select Fund (ASF) at Rs 432 crore in August, backing the top 15% of its 135-portfolio companies and writing Series B and C cheques of around Rs 20 crore each.
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