Ex-Wall Street banker Dhruv Jhunjhunwala launches Novastar Partners to back India’s private market opportunities

Former investment banker Dhruv Jhunjhunwala has launched Novastar Partners, a new investment firm focused on India’s growing private markets. The firm aims to provide investors a single-entry platform to participate in the country’s private market ecosystem through partnerships with fund managers and direct investments.

While Novastar Partners has not disclosed official details of its maiden fund, media reports said that the firm is targeting a corpus of Rs 350 crore, with a green-shoe option of Rs 150 crore.

The fund will operate as a fund-of-funds, investing both in other funds, including venture capital, private equity, and secondary vehicles, and directly in growth-stage companies. Most of the corpus will be deployed into direct funds, with investments ranging between Rs 15 crore and Rs 80 crore, while a smaller portion will be reserved for about eight to ten companies.

The capital is being raised primarily from India, with some commitments expected from US-based investors. Novastar Partners’ strategy focuses on technology and tech-enabled sectors such as software, IT services, healthtech, fintech, edtech, artificial intelligence, and deeptech.

“Our goal is to allocate capital into highly scalable, capital-efficient companies that demonstrate strong network effects,” Jhunjhunwala said. He added that India’s macroeconomic expansion, growing middle class, and rapid digital adoption make it one of the most compelling private-market stories globally. “We believe the best way to capture India’s golden decade of private-market growth is through a fund-of-funds model. No single company or fund can capture the full breadth of India’s opportunity,” he noted.

Jhunjhunwala previously worked with RBC Capital Markets in New York and is an alumnus of New York University’s Stern School of Business. Over his career, he has evaluated more than 100 private equity and technology-driven investments across sectors including e-commerce, SaaS, gaming, education, and consumer technology, with earlier investments in Capillary Technologies, R for Rabbit, AdmitKard, and Kratos Studios.

The firm’s leadership team also includes Gaurav Sharma, an alumnus of Duke University, who previously worked with Bridgewater Associates and APL, a Japan-based private investment firm.

The firm plans to announce its initial fund partnerships in early 2026, marking the start of its investment rollout.