New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- Growth-stage venture capital firm Fundamentum Partnership, co-founded by Infosys veteran Nandan Nilekani and Helion Ventures' Sanjeev Aggarwal, is gearing up to expand its investment playbook with a two-pronged strategy under the Fundamentum brand.

One vertical, led by Aggarwal, will continue to focus on sector-agnostic, scale-up investments. Building on Fundamentum's positioning as one of the few homegrown investors dedicated to the underserved Series B space, the arm will target startups that are scaling rapidly but still need specialist capital and operational expertise.

The second vertical, led by co-founder Ashish Kumar, will back AI and deeptech ventures as part of a stage-agnostic approach. It will identify technology-first ventures at critical inflexion points and support them with patient capital and a proprietary tech and data platform. According to the company, AI and deeptech will drive the next wave of defensibility and global competitiveness for Indian startups.

Co-founder and general partner Nilekani said the expansion comes at a time when the Indian ecosystem is at an inflexion point, with both growth-stage companies and globally competitive AI ventures scaling rapidly. "Each of these frontiers demands dedicated expertise, conviction, and long-term commitment. Sanjeev brings a legacy of scaling category-defining businesses at the growth stage, while Ashish has developed strong expertise in AI and deeptech. Both bring a distinct edge that positions Fundamentum strongly for the road ahead," Nilekani said.

The move builds on the strong performance of the company's second fund, launched in 2022, which Fundamentum said is tracking an internal rate of return (IRR) of around 35% as of June 30, 2025. Its portfolio companies have reported nearly 80% revenue growth over the past year, it added.

Aggarwal said Fund II's performance validates the scale-up opportunity in India. "We understand what it takes for a company to go from 10 to 100 and from 100 to 1,000. Tech startups today are achieving scale much faster than their predecessors, driven by rapid consumer adoption and India's digital rails. This makes sound fundamentals exceptionally crucial in their scale-up journey, particularly as the IPO market becomes more conducive for startup listings," he said.

Kumar added that India has the right mix of talent, ambition, policy, and capital to emerge as a global hub for AI and deeptech ventures. "Our stage-agnostic approach allows us to identify the right opportunities at the right inflexion point and back founders who can imagine and pursue transformative moonshots," he said.

Fundamentum's portfolio includes several homegrown startups, such as vernacular storytelling platform Kuku, devotional platform AppsForBharat, fixed-income investment firm Stable Money, ecosystem-embedded MSME financing startup FlexiLoans, omni-channel grocery player Apna Mart, content commerce startup Wishlink, B2B commerce ventures ProcMart and Geniemode, and banking infrastructure firm TransBnk.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.