Nandan Nilekani leaves GP role at Fundamentum as it launches $200M third fund

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Indian IT services elephantine Infosys, volition nary longer service arsenic a wide spouse astatine Fundamentum Partnership, the task superior steadfast helium co-founded astir a decennary ago.

Nilekani (pictured above) volition beryllium stepping down from his relation arsenic Fundamentum launches its 3rd fund, targeting to rise astir $200 million. He volition beryllium the fund’s anchor investor, and proceed advising the steadfast and mentoring portfolio companies, his co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal told TechCrunch.

Aggarwal described the displacement arsenic “just a rubric thing,” saying Nilekani would proceed to counsel the firm, mentor portfolio institution founders, and supply strategical guidance. “He is an integral portion of our firm. The 1 happening that helium enjoys the astir is mentoring the teams that we back, and helium volition proceed to bash truthful successful Fund III.”

Nilekani, 71, is 1 of India’s best-known exertion leaders. Besides co-founding Infosys, helium led the instauration of Aadhaar, India’s biometric individuality system, and has been a starring advocator of the country’s integer nationalist infrastructure, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payments web utilized by hundreds of millions of Indians. He has championed the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an inaugural aimed astatine making e-commerce much unfastened and interoperable successful the country.

Nilekani started Fundamentum successful 2017 with Aggarwal, who antecedently helped physique Helion Venture Partners. Fundamentum backs Indian startups astatine the Series B signifier and later, and its portfolio includes used-car marketplace Spinny, online pharmacy PharmEasy, audio storytelling level Kuku FM, and AppsForBharat, the developer of the Sri Mandir devotional app.

Nilekani did not respond to an emailed petition for comment.

The enactment alteration besides broadens Fundamentum’s elder concern team. Alongside Aggarwal, Fund III volition beryllium led by Prateek Jain, who joined Fundamentum astatine its inception successful 2017; fintech capitalist Mayank Kachhwaha, who joined up of Fund II; and concern main Sanjay Chaturvedi, who has been with the steadfast for astir a decade.

Fundamentum’s FUnd III GPs Mayank Kachhwaha, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Prateek Jain, and Sanjay ChaturvediImage Credits:Fundamentum Partnership

Fundamentum’s 3rd money aims to backmost 8 to 10 early-stage startups gathering user technology, fintech, and AI products, and contented archetypal checks of astir ₹100 crore (around $10.5 million) each. The steadfast has yet to denote a archetypal close, but has already begun deploying capital, Aggarwal said, adding that helium expects the fundraising to reason implicit the adjacent 12 to 18 months.

Fund III volition spot Nilekani making his largest-ever committedness to a task superior fund, Aggarwal said, though helium declined to disclose the concern amount. The fund, Aggarwal said, expects to rise astir fractional of its people from planetary investors, and the remainder from Indian institutions, household offices, founders and the firm’s partners.

That equilibrium reflects however India’s task superior ecosystem has evolved implicit the past decade: Indian investors contiguous play a overmuch larger relation successful home funds than they did erstwhile Aggarwal helped motorboat Helion Venture Partners successful the mid-2000s.

“When we launched Helion, determination was nary home superior successful the country, and each the superior was raised from the U.S.,” Aggarwal said. “Over the past 5 years, we are experiencing precise beardown involvement successful Indian investors to backmost task superior firms […] Now you tin physique a task steadfast with home capital.”

Aggarwal told TechCrunch that Fundamentum sees India’s biggest AI accidental successful applications that are built connected existing planetary models, peculiarly crossed fiscal services, content, and vernacular user applications.

The stance underscores however overmuch of India’s AI ecosystem centers connected application-layer startups rather than those processing frontier AI models, dissimilar the U.S. and China, wherever companies person attracted billions of dollars to physique AI models.

The enactment reshuffle follows the departure of wide spouse Ashish Kumar, who precocious launched AI-focused task money Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), which besides has Nilekani arsenic an anchor investor. F2A, Aggarwal said, is simply a abstracted steadfast with nary operational transportation to Fundamentum, and Kumar is not progressive successful Fund III.

Fundamentum has made 17 investments crossed its archetypal 2 funds. Aggarwal told TechCrunch the steadfast has returned astir fractional of the superior from its archetypal money to investors, and the second fund is present focused connected follow-on investments.