Aviral Bhatnagar's AJVC closes maiden fund at about Rs 200 crore to support Indian startups

A Junior VC (AJVC), the pre-seed venture capital firm founded by Aviral Bhatnagar, has closed its maiden fund at more than Rs 200 crore, over twice its original target of Rs 100 crore.

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The firm reached the milestone in just nine months since launching in September 2024, drawing commitments from global institutional investors and prominent Indian family offices.

Bhatnagar, a former investor at Venture Highway, set up AJVC shortly after that firm was merged with Silicon Valley–based General Catalyst last year.

With its debut, AJVC has quickly emerged as one of India’s most active pre-seed investors. It has received more than 11,000 founder applications spanning 50 cities, 6,000 colleges and 4,000 companies, and has already invested in 25 startups across AI and consumer technology. The fund expects to invest in an additional 60 to 70 startups over the coming years.

The firm has built its investment model on speed and transparency, with an average first response time of about 30 hours to founder pitches. Beyond capital, it offers structured resources worth Rs 4 crore, community-driven programs to accelerate customer acquisition, and access to a network of more than 600,000 members.

Recent investments include Nuyug, a celebration-wear jewelry brand, and Mithila Foods, an FMCG company working with Bihar-based food products.

The fundraising comes amid a broader resurgence in venture activity: venture firms have raised more than $3.2 billion so far in 2025, already surpassing the $2.7 billion raised in all of 2024. Global names like Accel and Bessemer Venture Partners, as well as domestic investors such as Elev8 Venture Partners, Prime Venture Partners and Cornerstone VC, have all announced new funds in recent months.