Ankur Capital

Check the fit first

• The firm backs companies whose core innovation is a scientific or engineering breakthrough. If your edge is a business model, this is probably not the right fund.
• It invests early. It names energy hardware, materials science, synthetic biology and precision agriculture, and its portfolio also spans AI infrastructure, semiconductors and diagnostics.

How to reach them

• There is no application form or deadline. Try a warm introduction first, from a founder, researcher or operator who knows your work.
• Without one, write to the general inbox. The firm says it reads everything.
• Include a brief overview of the problem, your technology or product, team backgrounds, current traction or technical milestones, and your fundraising plans. A deck helps.

What reviewers weigh

• The market: is the pain point large enough to build a big business.
• The founders: domain expertise, resilience, and honesty about what you do not yet know.
• The path: a credible technical and commercial roadmap, not a hockey-stick projection.

Before you pitch

• Read its published research reports and founder notes to see how it thinks about your sector.

Ankur Capital is an early-stage deep tech venture capital firm with its registered office in Mumbai and further offices in Bengaluru and New Delhi. It describes itself as backing scientists, engineers and hard-IP builders who target global markets from day one. It is a fund, not an incubator, and it publishes no application form or intake window.

What it invests in

The firm says it has backed deep tech founders since 2013. It looks for companies where the core innovation is a scientific or engineering breakthrough, not a business model. Its own list of areas includes energy hardware, materials science, synthetic biology and precision agriculture. Its portfolio page adds AI infrastructure, semiconductors and diagnostics. Portfolio companies it names include Captain Fresh, CraftifAI, Offgrid Energy Labs, Pranos, StringBio, Turiyam, Vegrow and Vimano.

Stage and how it works with founders

Ankur Capital says it invests early, before the product is perfect and before the path is clear. It says it keeps capital back for follow-on rounds as companies grow, and that it stays with founders through technical milestones, commercial turning points and later rounds. Beyond funding, it says it helps with product strategy, key hires, introductions to customers, researchers, corporates and global investors.

What it evaluates

The firm says it asks the same three questions of every company. The first is the market: whether the pain point is large enough to build a big business. The second is the founders: deep domain expertise, resilience, and honesty about what they do not yet know. The third is the path: a credible technical and commercial roadmap to category leadership, not a hockey-stick projection.

How to approach Ankur Capital

There is no application form on the site. The firm says the strongest introductions come through founders, researchers or operators in its network who know you and your work. If you have no such connection, it says you can write to its general inbox directly. It asks for a brief overview of the problem, your technology or product, team backgrounds, current traction or technical milestones, and your fundraising plans. A deck helps.

Ecosystem initiatives

The firm built two ecosystem platforms. ThinkAg works with innovators and corporates on India's food and agriculture landscape. The Deep Science Forum brings together entrepreneurs, scientists, investors and policymakers. The firm says these give it early sight of founders before they start fundraising. It also publishes research, including an India deep science tech report and a manufacturing report, and a blog of founder-facing notes.

Who runs it

The partners listed are Rema Subramanian and Dr. Ritu Verma, both Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Krishnan Neelakantan, Managing Partner, and Shiva Shanker, Partner. The investment team includes Vishal Aman and Dr. Vishal Katariya as Vice Presidents and Suraj Nair as Assistant Vice President. Advisors named on the team page include Pavan Krishnamurthy, Pravin Gandhi and TVG Krishnamurthy.

Locations

The registered corporate office is at Byculla in Mumbai. Other offices are at an Indiranagar co-working centre in Bengaluru and a business centre at Barakhamba in New Delhi. The firm says it has run three funds over twelve years and lists forty-plus companies, but its own pages count the years differently, from 2013 on the about page and as twelve years elsewhere.