Ironclad Asset Management launches Rs 200 crore fund focused on ESOPs

Ironclad Asset Management has launched a ₹200 Cr ($22.5 Mn) fund called Ironclad Ventures to give startup employees in India liquidity for their ESOPs (employee stock options).

The company said its Cat-I AIF fund, Ironclad Ventures, will have a base size of ₹100 Cr ($11.3 Mn) with an additional ₹100 Cr available through a green shoe option.

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Ironclad Ventures plans to carry out 30–40 secondary transactions of ₹1–4 Cr each in startups across fintech, consumer, SaaS, and AI. These will be done through company-led periodic liquidity programs.

Founder Krishna Killa, a former private equity investor at Bain Capital said, “Ironclad Ventures is designed to solve a critical gap in the Indian startup ecosystem-the low belief in ESOPs at early stages due to lack of liquidity.”

The firm said it will buy a small portion of ESOPs each quarter in a structured way, helping employees treat them as real value rather than “paper money.” This gives employees steady cash flow while retaining most of their ESOPs, and allows companies to use ESOPs for hiring and retention without raising salaries.

As part of the initiative, the fund is onboarding advisors, including Arpit Maheshwari (ex-Stellaris Venture Partners) and Shrey Badhani (Co-founder, Kapiva Ayurveda).

“Their perspectives across company building, brand scaling, venture investing, and ESOP structuring will complement Ironclad’s efforts to deliver value beyond capital,” the investment firm said.

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