Fundraising Fox
New Delhi · Pre-Seed–Series A · 27 people tracked
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Investment thesis
IAN Group backs innovative, technology-driven companies that solve real-world problems, target large markets, and are led by execution-focused entrepreneurs. Its strategy emphasizes risk-mitigated, high-return early-stage investing, supported by the group's pool of mentors, domain experts, and global networks. The platform operates across multiple early-stage phases through its angel fund and venture funds, including the IAN Alpha Fund, which targets startups and MSMEs addressing real problems or aligned with India's strategic imperatives. Beyond capital, IAN provides mentoring and market access, reflected in a portfolio spanning 28 sectors and hundreds of companies with a focus on impact, job creation, and supporting women founders.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 27, 2026.
Team · 27 people
from the firm's website & curated & public directories
Chintan Thakkar is Group CEO of IAN Group and Senior Managing Partner of IAN Alpha Fund, a SEBI-registered venture capital fund operating alongside an angel investor network. He previously served for 12 years as Group CFO and board member at Info Edge, where he was involved in establishing the Info Edge Venture Fund, later scaled into an approximately US$450 million platform with Temasek, and in leading US$375 million of QIPs, strategic investments and M&A. Earlier in his career, he spent 15 years at CA Technologies, and he was named CFO of the Year 2023 by Financial Express in the Large & Mid-Cap category.
Sarika Saxena is Managing Partner at IAN Alpha Fund, where she invests in early-stage and growth-stage startups, and serves as a board member at FluxGen. She has more than 25 years of experience across India, the US, and the UK in strategic finance, investments, and M&A, including work on launching NBFCs and business scaling. She holds an MBA from London Business School, a PGDBM in Finance from IMI Delhi, and a Mathematics (Hons) degree from Delhi University.
Sudipta Gautam is Co-Founder of Thunderhawk Technology Partners and Managing Partner at IAN Fund. Gautam has worked in strategy, operations, and mergers and acquisitions, with experience scaling companies in the information technology services and energy sectors. Gautam has been part of multiple startup teams, two of which were acquired by public companies in Europe and the United States, and a third by a private company in the United States.
Independent advisor with over 15 years in investment management and strategic leadership focused on sustainability. Former partner at Three Hills Capital and previously at Generation Fund.
Rajnish Kapur is Managing Partner of the IAN Alpha Fund and IAN Fund I at IAN Group. He has approximately 22 years of experience in the IT industry, including 12 years in leadership roles across IT products and services in the internet, eCommerce, and enterprise sectors. His background includes founding and scaling organizations, managing business units with profit-and-loss responsibility, and overseeing clients such as Lastminute.com, TQ3, Zuji.com, and North West Water.
Navaneetha Krishnan Sankaraiah is founder and CEO of Stay Still Scale High and an IIM Bangalore alumnus with over 21 years of experience across medical devices, BFSI, logistics, and consumer products. He has spent 16+ years in corporate strategy and execution, including roles in M&A, fundraising, and startup investments, with involvement in 25+ startup investment decisions across multiple sectors and over 300 investor interactions. He also serves as visiting faculty teaching M&A and entrepreneurship at business schools and holds certifications as a meditation trainer, business coach, and life coach.
What they invest in
from 21 of 30 portfolio companiesDeep Tech ×5AI & Machine Learning ×4SaaS ×4Cleantech ×3E-commerce ×3Hardware ×3Healthtech ×3Logistics & Supply Chain ×3
HQs:India×18United States×2
Who they back
founder profiles across 14 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×32 founders×73 founders×24+ founders×2
Where their founders studiedfrom 16 founders with education data
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay ×2Indian School of Business ×2XLRI Jamshedpur ×2
What their founders studiedfrom 16 founders with field-of-study data
Computer Science ×7Business & Management ×3Engineering ×2Life Sciences ×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 15 founders with career history
Indian Institute of Science ×2Veritas ×2
Investments · 30 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 22025 · 12019 · 14 dated
ANSCER Robotics builds autonomous mobile robots and fleet-management software for material handling and intralogistics, automating tasks like pallet movement, line feeding, and goods transport.
Advanced ManufacturingIoTLogistics & Supply ChainRoboticsBengaluru, IN
Ebin Sunny(Founder)inRaghu Venkatesh(Founder)in
Co-investorsInfo Edge VenturesInfo Edge
Astrome develops space and terrestrial communications technology, including satellite systems (GigaSat, SpaceNet, satellite-broadband-as-a-service) and terrestrial wireless products (GigaMesh).
Deep TechHardwareSpace Tech
Prasad HL Bhat(Co-Founder, Chairman, and CTO)in
Co-investorsThe Ventures CoUrania Ventures
Bangalore-based fabless semiconductor development platform focused on high-performance integrated circuits and microprocessors.
Bengaluru, IN
Dinesh Annayya(Founder)inRenuka Prasad(Founder)in
Co-investorsVertex Ventures Sea Management Pte. Ltd.IvyCap VenturesVertex Ventures
Biodimension develops tissue engineering and non-animal testing methods including in-vitro platforms, biofabricated tissues, and computational models for pharmaceutical, personal care, and agrochemical industries.
BiotechDeep TechHealthtechImpact & Social GoodMedical DevicesBengaluru, IN
Manojkumar Sampathkumar(Founder)in
Chakr Innovation develops emission control and air quality technologies for industrial and urban environments in India.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyHardwareGurugram, IN
Co-investorsBritish International InvestmentIAN FundBlackSoilGlobevestorInflexor VenturesIron Pillar+2 more
ChargeUp offers a SKU activation and trade management platform for CPG brokers and brands, automating item setup across distributor and retailer portals such as UNFI, KeHE, Syndigo, 1WorldSync and IX-ONE.
AI & Machine LearningRetail TechSaaS
Co-investorsRCV FrontlineAnicut CapitalCapital A PartnersCapital-AJiraaf
Dhruva Space provides satellite launch solutions, including a range of space-qualified CubeSat orbital deployers (1–32 kg payloads) and integrated small satellite launch services across multiple launch vehicles such as PSLV, SSLV, Falcon, and Vikram.
Deep TechDefense TechHardwareSpace TechHyderabad, IN
Abhay Egoor(Founder)Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy(Founder)Krishna Teja Penamakuru(Founder)Sanjay Nekkanti(Founder)
Co-investorsBlue Ashva CapitalIvyCap VenturesSilverneedle VenturesT-Hub3Lines Venture CapitalIAN Fund+1 more
Druva provides a cloud-native SaaS platform for data backup, protection, recovery, and AI-driven data insights across enterprise data and workloads.
Cloud ComputingCybersecuritySaaSSunnyvale, US
Milind Borate(Founder)inJaspreet Singh(Founder)inMahesh Patel(Executive Officer)inEugenia Buzogly(Executive Officer)Ramani Kothandaraman(Founder)
BoardShailendra Jit Singh(Director)in
Co-investorsArbor Ventures UKDell Technologies CapitalFounders Circle CapitalHercules Capital, Inc.Lightspeed India PartnersOrios Venture Partners+12 more
FarEye provides technology to manage and optimize last-mile deliveries, aiming to help deliveries arrive on time and efficiently.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareLogistics & Supply ChainSaaSNew Delhi, IN
Kushal Nahata(Founder)inGaurav Srivastava(Founder)inGautam Kumar(Founder)inGaurav Shrivastava(Founder)
Co-investorsElevation CapitalM12 (Microsoft's Venture Fund)Dragoneer Investment GroupTCV
FarMart operates an AI-enabled food sourcing and procurement platform connecting suppliers, processors, and food manufacturers, with integrated logistics, verified supplier discovery, compliance flows, and automated settlements.
AgTechB2B MarketplacesFoodTech
Alekh Sanghera(Founder)inMehtab Hansin
Co-investors500 GlobalOrios Venture PartnersZ47Avaana Capital
goSTOPS operates a network of 30+ hostels across India offering accommodation in dorm beds, private rooms, and shared spaces designed for solo travelers, backpackers, and digital nomads.
Travel & HospitalityDelhi, IN
Pankaj Parwanda(Founder)inPallavi Agarwal(Founder)in
Co-investors1CrowdAurum Venture PartnersThe Chennai AngelsVU Venture PartnersBlume VenturesMumbai Angels
Nayam Innovations is an IP-driven medical device startup developing a customization technology platform for intraocular lenses (IOLs) that lets surgeons and patients personalize lenses for spectacle-free vision after cataract surgery.
Deep TechHealthtechMedical DevicesPune, IN
Tanuj Gigras(Founder)in
Co-investorsBharat FundIAN Fund
Pandorum Technology develops tissue engineering and regenerative medicine products using proprietary stem cell and exosome platforms to address corneal dystrophies, lung disorders, and liver diseases.
BiotechDeep TechMedical Devices
Arun ChandruTuhin Bhowmickin
Co-investors500 GlobalWe Founder Circle Global Angels FundXeed Ventures
Phool operates in the circular economy and sustainability sector, turning waste into wealth through business operations and project implementation.
Circular EconomyCleantechDirect to ConsumerImpact & Social GoodWellness & FitnessKanpur, IN
Co-investorsSixth Sense VenturesIAN Fund
PlanetSpark is an AI-powered online education platform offering life skills courses including English communication, mental maths, and public speaking for K-12 students and working professionals globally.
AI & Machine LearningEdTechGurgaon, IN
Kunal Malik(Founder)inManeesh Dhooper(Founder)in
Co-investorsHyderabad AngelsInnoVen CapitalGokul RajaramPrime Venture Partners
Spinny is an online platform for buying and selling certified pre-owned cars, offering vehicles that pass a 200-point inspection along with money-back guarantees, free RC transfer, and used-car financing.
E-commerceMarketplacesMobility & TransportationGurgaon, IN
Mohit Gupta(Founder)inRamanshu Mahaur(Founder)inNiraj Singh(Founder)
Co-investorsAccelAlteria CapitalAvenir Growth CapitalElevation CapitalFJ LabsFundamentum+7 more
Truemeds is an Indian online pharmacy where customers upload prescriptions or search for medicines and receive doctor-verified generic or branded substitute recommendations that lower medicine costs, along with home delivery.
Digital HealthE-commerceHealthtech
Akshat Nayyar(Founder)inDr. Kunal Wani(Founder)in
Co-investorsAccelPeak XV PartnersIAN FundInfo Edge VenturesWestBridge Capital
Uniphore provides a Business AI Cloud platform that enables enterprises to build, deploy, and scale autonomous AI agents across operations with built-in governance, security, and sovereignty controls.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSPalo Alto, US
Ravi Saraogi(Founder)inUmesh Sachdev(Founder)inMegha Sharma(Executive Officer)inSandeep Pandit(Executive Officer)in
BoardRobert Rueckert(Director)inRanjith Menon(Director)
Co-investorsAvant LabsChiratae VenturesCisco InvestmentsCXO FundIron PillarJC2 Ventures+12 more
Avlesh Singh(Founder)inAnkit Utreja(Founder)
Co-investorsCapria VenturesIndia QuotientNB VenturesOrios Venture PartnersBlume VenturesIAN Fund
Wooden Street is an Indian online furniture brand offering ready-made and customized wooden furniture, home decor, furnishings, mattresses, and modular kitchens for homes, offices, and restaurants.
ConsumerDirect to ConsumerE-commerceJaipur, IN
Vikas Baheti(Founder)in
Co-investorsPremji InvestRajasthan Venture Capital FundWestBridge Capital
Wow!
ConsumerFoodTechKolkata, IN
Sagar J. DaryaniBinod K. Homagaiin
Co-investorsAnicut Capital
Zypp Electric is an India-based EV rental platform that rents electric scooters and loaders to gig-economy delivery workers, providing IoT-enabled vehicles, battery-swapping infrastructure, and 24/7 support.
CleantechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & Transportation
Akash Gupta(Founder)inAkash Gupta Rashi Agarwal(Founder)
Co-investors9Unicorns Accelerator FundChakra Growth FundDholakia VenturesGoodyear VenturesGSF AcceleratorLVX Ventures+13 more
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
AquapulseFarm Watt InnovationManastu Space TechnologiesNanosafePandorumSkylarkThe Sweet Change
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Spinny · markhub24.com · Sep 15, 2026
Truemeds · startupfox.in · Aug 31, 2026
Biodimension · trysignalbase.com · Jun 12, 2026
Anscer · yourstory.com · May 20, 2026
Uniphore · techcrunch.com · Jan 19, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has IAN Group made?
- IAN Group has 30 tracked investments, including 3 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does IAN Group invest at?
- IAN Group invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What sectors does IAN Group focus on?
- IAN Group focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Healthtech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is IAN Group located?
- IAN Group is headquartered in New Delhi, IN.
- Does IAN Group lead rounds?
- Yes, IAN Group leads investment rounds.
- Who does IAN Group co-invest with?
- IAN Group most often shares deals with Accel, Elevation Capital, Iron Pillar, among 66 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
from their channelThe Indian Startup Space | Business News | CNBC TV18 | IAN Group closes $100Mn Alpha fund
IAN Group
Govt Launches New Fund With ₹1 Lk Cr Corpus | Bolstering Research & Development
IAN Group
Exploring India’s SpaceTech Frontier with Industry Leaders
IAN Group
IAN Masterclass : Integrating Business Strategies with Mental Health Innovation | Evolve
IAN Group
Empowering India’s Future: The Semiconductor and Electronics Revolution
IAN Group
IAN Masterclass: The Power of AI-led Engagement: Leveraging Data to Enhance User Experience
IAN Group
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