Artha Venture Fund I achieves 61% IRR and Rs 2,100+ crore portfolio revenue

Artha Venture Fund I (AVF I), an early-stage microVC fund sponsored by the Artha India Ventures family office, is approaching full deployment, having invested over Rs 175 crore across 32 seed-stage startups.

Since its inception, AVF I has delivered an internal rate of return (IRR) of 61%, which it says significantly outperforms the industry average IRR of 35% for comparable microVC funds in India and places it among the top 5 globally. 

In FY25 alone, AVF I’s portfolio companies collectively generated over Rs 2,100 crore in revenues, with two ventures now valued above $400 million. The fund's Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) is approaching 20%, buoyed by a recently signed exit under diligence and last year’s successful partial exit from Everest Fleet. 

Launched in FY19 and closed in July 2021 at Rs 225 crore, AVF I has facilitated over 50 investment rounds across a diverse range of ventures, including Everest Fleet, Agnikul, LenDenClub, GetWork, Lemnisk, InstaAstro, Daalchini, and Nirmalaya. Notably, 6 of its top 10 portfolio companies are profitable, with several securing significant follow-on investments from global institutional investors and marquee corporate venture capital funds. 

AVF was also recently ranked as the #1 VC fund in India by Preqin, as reported in the March 2025 Performance Benchmark Report, based on metrics such as net multiple and IRR.

The ranking placed AVF I ahead of its peer VC funds launched in 2018, strengthening its position as a leader in India's venture capital ecosystem. According to the report, AVF I has delivered a TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In Capital) of 3.75x (INR terms) and 3.40x (USD terms). 

“What started as a small experiment to manage our family capital through a fund has grown into a powerhouse portfolio that employs over 20,000+ people directly and 100,000+ people indirectly. In many ways we have just reached the middle of our fund journey with 4 years left to continue scaling these incredible ventures that go from the cosmos to the radio-taxi picking you up below your house,” said Anirudh A. Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Venture Fund.

“Our numbers excite me but here’s still a lot of energy and value to be unlocked. We are laser-focused on building India’s first VC fund to return 10x DPI,” he added. 

Chris Kolenaty, Founder of Snow Leopard Ventures and LP at Artha Select Fund, added: “As a long-time LP and board member at Artha, I’ve witnessed the discipline, consistency, and clarity with which Anirudh and his team have built their investment framework. The results from AVF I are no accident; they reflect years of methodical work, strong governance, and a bold conviction in backing India’s next category leaders.” 

AVF I holds an average ownership of over 15% in its top 10 companies—which it refers to as "Alphas"—and continues to fund them through targeted follow-on investments. The firm further said that its selective investment approach has resulted in less than 1% of evaluated deals receiving investment. 

With its final seed investment now complete, AVF I strategically shifts its focus to deploying the remaining capital into targeted follow-on rounds within its high-performing portfolio. Further extending its pioneering spirit, AVF I is also channeling resources through the innovative Artha Select Fund—India’s first winners-only microVC fund, exclusively designed to back breakout successes from its portfolio.