Gaurav Jha

It was a pleasure to join CNBC-TV18 to discuss Atomic Capital's ₹400 Cr+ maiden fund closure and our vision as an Operating VC to transform India’s consumer tech landscape. In this conversation, I shared actionable strategies and perspectives on building sustainable, high-growth startups. 1. Defining Operating VC: Unlike traditional VCs, we’re operational partners—driving value through hands-on support in strategy, hiring, and scaling, minimizing risks and maximizing impact. 2. Consumer and Consumer Tech Focus: With ₹10-30 Cr cheques for a curated 10-12 startup portfolio, we’re backing Consumer brands, Consumer tech companies, and consumer enablers reshaping India’s $2T consumer market. 3. Why Conscious Chemist and Doodhvale Farms: Our ₹50 Cr in four startups targets founders with robust PMF. We prioritize capital efficiency, defensible moats, and 10x growth potential in our evaluations. 4. Investment Outlook: Evaluating 20+ companies with a term sheet for our fifth, we plan 2-3 more investments by year-end, emphasizing high-conviction bets. 5. Emerging Trends: We’re bullish on omnichannel retail, eco-conscious beauty, and tech-enabled supply chains—trends set to redefine India’s consumer behavior. 6. Founder Advice: Prioritize pro-active organization building and capital efficiency. Ruthless focus on unit economics ensures sustainable scaling beyond initial product-market fit. 7. Our Roadmap: Full fund deployment by 2027, targeting 3-5x returns through follow-ons and exits, with plans to explore a second fund to amplify our impact. Thank you, CNBC-TV18, for the platform to share our mission. Atomic Capital Manish Jain Nikhil Patil #VentureCapital #ConsumerTech #StartupsIndia #OperatingVC #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

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Natasha Malpani Launches ₹200 Crore Fund to Power India’s AI Startups Former Kae Capital partner Natasha Malpani has launched Boundless Ventures, an early-stage venture fund with a corpus of ₹200 crore, dedicated to supporting homegrown AI-native startups across India. The fund will focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in companies innovating across consumer AI, infrastructure, agent tooling, healthcare, logistics, deep tech, and make-in-India hardware. Boundless has already written its first cheques to startups including Superhealth, Armatrix, PierSight, Knot, and two stealth ventures in AI infrastructure and consumer AI. Beyond capital, the fund promises to bring narrative and network support to founders. As Malpani puts it, India today has a once-in-a-generation advantage talent density, digital rails, and ambition to build global AI leaders from day one. At Startup Veda, we’re thrilled to see local capital fueling the AI frontier. This fund signals rising maturity in India’s venture ecosystem—placing conviction behind AI-first founders well before the rest of the world catches on. Join the conversation: Which early-stage AI ventures excite you the most? How powerful is the mix of capital + storytelling for building AI startups? #Startup #AI #VentureCapital #DeepTech #StartupIndia #FounderStories

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🎯 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 – 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 Grateful to News18 India Gujarati for featuring my insights on India’s evolving startup ecosystem during the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference at #Mehsana. The event marked a milestone with MoUs worth ₹11,652 crore signed, major discussions on semiconductors, green energy, and women-led startups, and participation from #Japan, #SouthKorea, and #Vietnam. As a Startup Mentor, it’s inspiring to witness how India is shaping a powerful, self-sustaining startup ecosystem; where every stage, from ideation to incubation, prototype to product, research to revenue, is being strengthened by coordinated efforts of the Government, investors, academia, and industry. With more than 1.25 lakh DPIIT-recognized startups, over 110 unicorns, and initiatives such as Startup India #SeedFund, Fund of Funds, and the Gujarat Startup Policy 2024, India is no longer a follower in innovation ; it’s setting global benchmarks. Co-working spaces, incubation centers, university collaborations, and strong digital infrastructure are ensuring that ideas from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities find wings; not walls. The collective push from platforms like i-Hub Gujarat, GIFT City , Gujarat Technological University (GTU), Vadodara Startup Studio - Parul University, iCreate, Antrapreneur The Business Incubator, Bharat Accelerator, AMSIM Mehsana and many more are creating founders who are solving real-world problems with scale, purpose, and resilience. India’s startup movement isn’t just about funding; it’s about founders with foresight and a nation that now believes in its own innovation. i47 Global Venture Specialists Panchal S K and Associates Startup India Vibrant Gujarat Ganpat University Amrit Mehsana Startup & Innovation Mission M Nagarajan Dr. Mahendra Sharma #mehsana #vibrantgujarat #incubators #incubation #prototype #funding #marketingtips #productdevelopment #pricing #unicorn #employmentgeneration #innovation #startupecosystem #textiles #diamond #heritage #msme

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I am super excited to introduce another initiative < SRF Strategy Labs > At SRF Capital Studio, our work with founders across stages has revealed a consistent gap — while startups push for growth and capital, they often operate without structured frameworks that connect business strategy with capital strategy. | Our Thesis | Unlike corporates, startups rarely have access to structured playbooks. Founders are expected to simultaneously manage unit economics, scaling models, governance, and fundraising. The solution lies in creating a strategy playbook that integrates with the capital journey — where business model choices, scaling pathways, and capital structures are designed as one. SRF Strategy Labs is our response to this gap. It is where capital and strategy intersect — enabling founders to make informed, investor-ready, and scalable decisions. | The First Lab | - Investor Readiness & Demystifying Term Sheets We begin by addressing one of the most critical needs for growth-stage startups: investor preparedness. Through virtual readiness assessments and a focused workshop (as part of our next Studio Connect), founders will gain clarity on strategy alignment, investor expectations, and the nuances of term sheets — with inputs from SRF and VC legal teams. This is a structured step towards building a sustainable capital–strategy bridge for founders. | Eligibility | This Strategy Lab is designed for revenue-generating startups with a minimum vintage of 2 years — founders who are actively scaling and preparing for institutional capital Registration link will follow shortly

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💼 India vs GCC – How Private Equity Deals Are Structured Differently Having worked across both India and the Gulf, I’ve noticed some clear contrasts in how deals come together. 🇮🇳 India - More distributed cap tables with multiple funds, angels, and ESOP pools. Early founder dilution. - Preference for structured minority deals rather than full control - Longer diligence cycles with multiple stakeholders involved 🇸🇦 GCC - Family-led or founder-heavy ownership structures are still the norm; even when diluting cap tables remain relatively clean - Government approvals often play a decisive role in timelines (GAC in KSA, UAE competition law, etc) - Diligence can often be lighter, especially in early stage (higher trust in the ecosystem). Sharper focus on post-deal integration and execution readiness Just goes to show that as an investor, context matters. A deal playbook that works in Mumbai won’t always translate seamlessly to Riyadh or Dubai — and vice versa. Understanding regulatory nuance, cultural expectations, and deal pacing is critical when crossing these corridors. ✍️ Curious to hear from others: what’s the biggest difference you’ve observed when structuring deals across geographies? #PrivateEquity #IndiaGCC #DealMaking #CrossBorderInvesting #GII

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