NuVentures unveils $75M fund to back AI startups with India connect
VC firm NuVentures aims to bring value to early-stage tech startups by ensuring faster connect with markets and customers.
NuVentures, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by seasoned startup investor Venk Krishnan in 2015, has unveiled a new $75 million fund. Based in the US, the fund is focused on supporting founders with a strong India connection.
Krishnan has been associated with the Indian startup ecosystem since 2002, having first invested in NetKraft followed by Mu Sigma, the analytics company founded by Dhiraj Rajaram. Since then, he has been largely an angel investor, having invested in over 47 companies, including the likes of Third Wave Coffee, BigBasket, Acko, HomeLane, Geist Beer, Lucidity, and Foxtale.
Krishnan now believes that NuVentures has graduated into a more structured entity, making investments that have certain value adds, unlike previous investments that were largely based on the founders’ passion.
The fund plans to invest in around four to five startups annually, with investments ranging from $250k to $750k. NuVentures has already secured commitments from the Fund of Funds and high net worth individuals (HNIs) in the US. It has also invested in four startups, including a startup founded by Carnegie Mellon alumni.
In an interaction with YourStory, Krishnan said, “Earlier, there was no strong value addition from our side, but there is now value with our new fund.”
According to him, the key strength of the $75 million fund will be its ability to connect startups with customers. This will be done through NuWare, the 30-year-old technology company headquartered in New York, which was also founded by Krishnan.
“We will take our startups directly to our customers to get the market feedback on their products, including a POC,” Krishnan said.
The biggest challenge for startups is gaining access to markets and customers, and NuVentures wants to address this with an early entry point through NuWare. The company has customers across various sectors such as financial services, retail, and healthcare.
“They (customers) give us feedback if it will work or not,” Krishnan said.
According to Krishnan, they will back startups that have a strong India connect, i.e., either the startups are based in India and looking at the US market or those headquartered in the US but with engineering work done out of India.
As of now, a majority of NuVentures’ investments will be focused on US-based startups, with some contributions from India. The segment’s primary area of focus will be AI, SaaS, and consumer tech. Besides, it also wants to ensure there are adequate safeguards for minority investors.
Also, there will be a shift in how NuVentures makes investment decisions. Earlier, these were primarily made by Krishnan alone, but now he has brought in three new partners to make collective decisions together. The partners are: Visveswaran Kartik, Neel Mukerji, and Prabhakar DJ.
Krishnan believes the Indian startup ecosystem is on the cusp of a big change where investor money is no longer easily available. “Investors now want to see a clear path towards revenues or profitability from the startups,” he remarked.
He said NuVentures will not be charging a large management fee from the investors in the fund, and it will also provide them with the option of whether they would like to invest in a particular startup or not.
Krishnan claimed that the fund has been able to get good traction in terms of deal flow. It has invested in Y Combinator-backed AI startup Pivot Robotics.
The Indian startup ecosystem continues to face challenges in terms of venture capital inflow. The first two months of this year saw VC funding on a monthly basis falling below the $1 billion level. The month of February witnessed a 25% decline in funding.
Also, this year till now, there was just one startup—Zeta, which became a unicorn. Also, there were just three $100 million deals during this period. These actually show how the Indian startup ecosystem is yet to regain the momentum of the past.
A report by Tracxn noted that for the first quarter of 2025, Indian tech startups raised $2.5 billion, which was a 13.64% increase when compared to the previous quarter, and an 8.7% rise from the same period last year.
NuVentures founder believes that despite a slowdown in overall funding momentum, good, passionate founders with a clear go-to-market (GTM) strategy will be able to raise capital.
Edited by Megha Reddy