Companies Economy Live June 5, 2025 0 Comments

Micro VC Artha Venture delivers IRR of 61%

Anirudh A Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Venture Fund

Artha Venture Fund I, an early-stage micro VC backed by the Artha India Ventures family office, has reported an internal rate of return of 61 per cent with the portfolio companies achieving cumulative revenue of ₹2,100 crore.

The ₹225 crore fund has deployed over ₹175 crore across 32 seed-stage start-ups. The portfolio valuation has now surpassed ₹750 crore, with two companies valued above $400 million (about ₹3,440 crore).

Artha increased its pace of investment over the past year, deploying nearly one-third of its seed capital amid a broader market correction. With valuations down 35-50 per cent from 2022 highs, the fund has described the current environment as among the most attractive since 2014.

Artha Venture Fund (AVF) is India’s first early-stage micro venture capital fund, dedicated to investing in transformative start-ups across applied AI, SaaS, fintech infrastructure, deeptech and consumer brands targeting India’s emerging affluent class.

With over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience, Anirudh A Damani, the managing partner of Artha Venture Fund, is a fourth-generation entrepreneur and a second-generation investor from the Damani family. He was the first to introduce the concept of micro VC firms in India. Under his leadership, AVF has made significant investments in the B2B, SaaS, B2C, FinTech, and SpaceTech segments.

Anirudh A Damani, Managing Partner, Artha Venture Fund, said the Group’s portfolio has over 130 investments spread across India, the US, Israel and Africa, with multi-bagger investments in OYO, Purplle, LeverageEdu, Tala, IconBuild, Rapido, Coutloot, Chai Break, Karza Technologies, Stay Vista, Mobilewalla and Exotel.

Based on early-stage investment strategy, AVF was launched with an aim to garner ₹200 crore but ended up at ₹225 crore corpus.

His knack for picking winners is demonstrated by the 10.2 times return on investment the overall start-up portfolio has delivered in less than a decade at an IRR higher than 50 per cent. AVF’s dedicated portfolio includes AgniKul, LenDenClub, Everest Fleet, Daalchini, Elev8 India Sportz, and more.

A dedicated portfolio is an investment strategy where cash flows generated by the assets are specifically designed to match and cover known or anticipated liabilities. Besides this Damani has also co-founded Artha Energy Resources and Artha Venture Fund under the business umbrella of Artha Group.