Venture Catalysts secures Rs 150 crore in mix of primary, secondary transactions

Multi-stage venture investing firm Venture Catalysts has raised Rs 150 crore (around $18 million) by selling an equal mix of primary and secondary shares.

The primary transaction valued the company at around $200 million after investment, said cofounder and MD Apoorva Ranjan Sharma. Separate secondary deals were made directly between old shareholders and new investors at their own agreed prices.

The $200 million valuation only refers to Venture Catalysts itself, not the investment funds it manages.

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The funding round brought in public market veterans, corporates, and family offices, including Bollywood names, Sharma said. New investors include Ashish Kacholia and group, Authum Investments, Shah Rukh Khan’s family office, Aishwarya Rai, Karthik Sundar Iyer (Twentyfirst Century Management Services), Hardik Patel (Finquest), and LNB Group.

Existing backers like Radhakishan Damani (DMart), Kamal Agarwal (Haldiram), Enam Securities, Capri Global, and founder-investors Aman Gupta (boat), Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Nirmit Parikh (Apna), and Srinath Ramakkrushnan (Zetwerk) also joined.

The fresh funds will be used to strengthen leadership, launch new funds, and introduce AI-driven tools for due diligence and LP reporting.

Launched in 2016 as an angel network, Venture Catalysts runs deal-by-deal syndication via angel AIFs and also has a venture capital arm that sets up Category II AIFs with fund managers and institutional partners.

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Venture Catalysts manages over $500 million through its funds, with around $200 million invested over nine years via syndication from UHNIs, HNIs, and family offices.

“Our primary focus has been picking up companies very early on. Through fund structures, we have also entered into growth stages, because that's the way it can be done in India,” said Sharma.

“This fresh capital will deepen active deal flow, seed new fund strategies and enhance the technology backbone that supports our ecosystem—particularly AI-driven solutions that enable investors and founders to collaborate at speed and scale,” said Venture Catalysts cofounder Anuj Golecha.

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