Fundamentum Partnership Launches Tech-Focused Investment Platform with Rs 2,000 Crore Corpus
Nandan Nilekani-Backed Fundamentum Partnership Launches Tech-Focused Investment Platform
Fundamentum Partnership, backed by Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys, has launched a tech-focused investment platform called Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A) with a target corpus of ₹2,000 crore. F2A will manage Fundamentum's Fund III, which will focus on AI-native and deeptech companies.
The ₹2,000 crore corpus is being raised in India, with both domestic and foreign investors contributing to the fund. In addition, a ₹1,000 crore investment vehicle will be set up outside India. Both these vehicles will be managed by F2A to create a portfolio of 12-15 startups. This move comes at a time when investors in the country have become bullish on both deeptech and AI.
Investors have become more willing to write larger cheques to startups in the AI sector, provided their core IP is sustainable in the long term. In contrast, deeptech investors are writing larger cheques.
| Sector | Cheque Size |
|---|---|
| Deeptech | Larger cheques |
| AI | Selective, but willing to write larger cheques |
Ashish Kumar, co-founder of Fundamentum, stated that F2A is a continuation of the firm's effort to partner with founders building enduring, technology-led businesses. During his tenure, Kumar has sourced and invested in consumer technology companies and enterprise technology companies.
F2A said it will continue to build on the investment approach that has defined Fundamentum's previous funds. The firm has also roped in Debraj Banerjee, a former senior fund manager at Sidbi Venture Capital, as a general partner to co-lead its AI and deeptech strategy alongside Kumar.
Banerjee believes that India is poised to build globally relevant technology-led businesses over the next decade, citing similar adoption cycles in more mature markets such as the US. Fundamentum, founded in 2017, acts as a growth-stage investment firm with a focus on backing technology-driven companies operating in large and evolving markets.
Read also: Treasury Yields Experience Largest Increase in Two Weeks Following Release of Labor Market Data
Investor Takeaway
Investors are bullish on deeptech and AI, with larger cheques being written to startups with sustainable core IP.
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