Nandan Nilekani Steps Down from GP Position at Fundamentum Amid Launch of $200M Third Fund

Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder of Infosys, is stepping down from his role as a general partner at the venture capital firm he helped establish, Fundamentum Partnership, nearly ten years ago.

As Fundamentum prepares to launch its third fund with a target of raising around $200 million, Nilekani will remain as the fund’s main investor and will continue to offer guidance and mentorship to startup founders, according to co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal.

Aggarwal characterized this change as simply a matter of titles, emphasizing that Nilekani will maintain his advisory role and continue to support the firm’s portfolio companies. “He remains a vital part of our organization. His favorite role is mentoring the teams we support, and he will keep doing that in Fund III,” Aggarwal stated.

At 71, Nilekani is a prominent figure in India’s tech landscape. He played a pivotal role in founding Infosys and also contributed to the development of Aadhaar, the country’s biometric identification system. Furthermore, he has been a strong proponent of India’s digital public infrastructure, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which serves hundreds of millions of users. Nilekani has also advocated for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a project intended to enhance the accessibility and interoperability of e-commerce in India.

Fundamentum was launched in 2017 by Nilekani and Aggarwal, who previously worked with Helion Venture Partners. The firm primarily invests in Indian startups at the Series B stage and beyond, boasting a portfolio that includes companies such as Spinny (a used-car marketplace), PharmEasy (an online pharmacy), Kuku FM (an audio storytelling platform), and AppsForBharat, the creator of the Sri Mandir devotional app.

Nilekani has not yet responded to requests for comment.

This transition in leadership aims to strengthen Fundamentum’s senior investment team. Along with Aggarwal, the new fund will be co-led by Prateek Jain, who has been at Fundamentum since its inception, fintech specialist Mayank Kachhwaha, and Sanjay Chaturvedi, the finance chief who has been part of the firm for nearly ten years.

Fundamentum’s third fund is set to support eight to ten early-stage startups, specifically in consumer technology, fintech, and AI sectors, typically providing initial investments of around ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) each. Although a first close has not yet been revealed, the firm has already begun investments, with expectations to wrap fundraising within the next 12 to 18 months.

Nilekani’s commitment to this new fund will be the largest he has ever made to a venture capital initiative, though the specific investment sum has not been disclosed. The fund is anticipated to source about half of its target from international backers, with the remainder coming from Indian institutions, family offices, entrepreneurs, and the firm’s partners.

This reflects the evolution of India’s venture capital scene over the past decade, where local investors have increasingly come to the forefront. Aggarwal noted, “When we established Helion, domestic capital was almost non-existent; now we see a strong interest from Indian investors to fund venture capital firms.”

Aggarwal explained that Fundamentum sees significant opportunities in AI applications rooted in existing global models, particularly within financial services, content, and local consumer applications. This perspective highlights a distinct difference in India’s AI landscape, which is largely focused on application-layer startups, contrasting with regions like the U.S. and China that have attracted heavy funding for building foundational AI models.

The recent leadership changes come after general partner Ashish Kumar’s departure, who is now at Helm of an AI-focused fund called Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), in which Nilekani is also an anchor investor. Aggarwal clarified that F2A operates independently of Fundamentum, and Kumar is not involved with Fund III.

Fundamentum has made 17 investments through its first two funds, and Aggarwal reports that they have returned approximately half of the capital from their first fund to investors, while the second fund is focusing on follow-on investments.