India Internet Fund

Check the fit first

• The fund describes itself as early stage and technology led, with a consumer focus, and wants entrepreneurs building out of India for India and global markets.
• Its listed sectors include media and entertainment, fin-tech, data analytics, AI, machine learning, logistics, travel and food and agri-tech.
• Its site footer shows 2022, so ask early whether it is still deploying into new companies.

How to reach it

• There is no application form. Use the contact form on the site or write to the general partners inbox and ask to schedule an appointment with the investment team.
• Say what you build, your stage, who is on the founding team and what you want from the fund beyond capital, since it stresses fundraising and networking guidance.
• If you have a US angle, say so: the fund says it leans on its presence in both India and the US.

What it does not publish

• Fund size, cheque size, equity terms and selection criteria are not on the site. Ask for the investment process and its level of involvement directly, as the site invites you to.

India Internet Fund (IIF) is an early stage venture capital fund founded in 2011 by two entrepreneurs-turned-investors, Anirudh Suri and Nihal Mehta. It works from New Delhi and New York, and describes its mission as backing entrepreneurs building internet and mobile technology startups out of India that serve both the Indian and the global market. It says it wants to promote collaboration between the startup ecosystems of India and the United States.

The fund says it has invested in over 15 companies. Its site lists sectors such as technology, media and entertainment, fin-tech, big data and data analytics, logistics, travel, artificial intelligence, machine learning and food and agri-tech, and its tagline names consumer technology as a focus. It says it becomes invested in the businesses it works with right from the very start, and that it helps founders turn their ideas into companies with fundraising and networking guidance. Its advisors are described as leaders in the technology space across the Indian and US startup ecosystems.

How to approach it: there is no application form, programme or fixed intake window on the site. The contact page invites founders to get in touch to schedule an appointment with the investment team, and gives a general partners inbox. For details about its investment process and its level of involvement, the fund asks you to get in touch rather than publishing them. It does not publish a fund size, a typical cheque size or selection criteria, so expect to learn those in conversation.

Check before you write: the website footer carries a 2022 copyright, so confirm the fund is still making new investments, and confirm that your stage and sector fit before you spend time on a pitch.