Malpani Ventures

Before you pitch

• Malpani Ventures takes equity. It is not a grant, an incubator or a pre-revenue fund.
• Its site says to approach when you have revenue, real customers and early momentum. If you are still building a prototype, wait.
• It is sector-agnostic but leans to frugal businesses. A model that burns heavily is, in its words, probably not a fit.

How to reach them

• Email your pitch deck and relevant materials to pitch@malpaniventures.com, or use the form on the website.
• Warm introductions help, but cold emails are considered.
• Read the thesis page first; it says reviewing it maximises your impact.

What they say they look for

• Paying customers and real revenue.
• A company run like a business, with focus on profit and sustainability.
• Founders who complement each other and spend frugally.
• A clear, no-nonsense roadmap to break-even.

What to expect

• On average it takes 4-6 weeks to issue a term sheet, and the more prepared you are with numbers the faster it can decide.
• It does not sign NDAs and asks for board observer status rather than a board seat.
• Expect conditions before funding: one incorporated entity, an ESOP pool, a compensation plan for founders and key managers, and IP held by the company.
• Use its free founder kit and draft term sheet to prepare.

Malpani Ventures is a Mumbai fund that calls itself micro private equity. It puts long-term, structured equity into frugal, revenue-generating Indian companies, and it says it backs founders who run their company as a business rather than a startup. It operates through Frugality Ventures LLP and was started by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, an IVF specialist who began by angel investing in founders he believed in. The team today also includes a principal investment lead, an associate, an analyst and an entrepreneur in residence.

Who it backs

This is not a pre-revenue fund. The thesis page says its cheques are for growing what works, not for building prototypes, and the site says founders should approach when they have revenue, real customers and early momentum. It looks for paying customers, a team of creative and frugal operators who complement each other, and a plain roadmap to break-even. It is sector-agnostic, with a bias to businesses where frugality is an advantage. If your model is fundamentally burn-heavy, the site says it is probably not a fit. The current portfolio runs across health, climate and supply chain: Nesa MedTech, Adiabatic Technologies, Mestastop Solutions, Doco, GreenJams and Tessol.

It invests across India, not only in Mumbai and Bangalore, and says it has a soft corner for founders from tier 2 and 3 towns.

How it works with founders

Malpani Ventures likes to lead a round, but says it is not the lead investor half the time and has partnered with experienced seed and angel investors and funds. It does not ask for board seats; it asks founders to grant board observer status instead. It does not sign NDAs. Before it invests it expects your affairs in order: a single incorporated entity, an ESOP pool set up, a 36-month compensation plan for key management and founders, and all intellectual property transferred to the company. After investing it asks for monthly reports and a monthly progress call.

What it publishes about process

For a fund this size, the site is unusually open. The thesis page has a full question-and-answer section, and a founder kit with a co-founders agreement, a FAST template, an investor update template, diligence checklists, a draft shareholders' agreement, the draft term sheet it uses and a plain-English term sheet explainer. It also runs a weekly Substack, publishes short reads on how it thinks about deals, and hosts an annual founder event called MV Day. It states that on average it takes 4-6 weeks to issue a term sheet.

Beyond the fund

The Impact page lists civic and education initiatives, philanthropy, and 3F VC, a separate student-led effort that gives equity-free grants to early builders. That is a different door from the fund and not a way to reach it.

How to pitch

Email your deck and supporting material to the pitch inbox listed on the site, or use the form on the website. Warm introductions help, but it says it considers cold emails too. Read the thesis page first so you can show your numbers and where you fit.