Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys, is stepping down as general partner at Fundamentum Partnership, the venture capital firm he co-founded nearly a decade ago, as the firm launches its third fund targeting roughly $200 million. Nilekani will remain involved as the fund’s anchor investor and continue advising the firm and mentoring portfolio companies, according to co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal, who described the change as primarily a shift in title rather than involvement.
Fund III will be led by Aggarwal alongside Prateek Jain, Mayank Kachhwaha, and Sanjay Chaturvedi. The fund aims to back eight to ten early-stage startups across consumer technology, fintech, and AI products, with initial checks of about $10.5 million each. Aggarwal said the fund expects roughly half its capital to come from international investors, with the remainder from Indian institutions and family offices, reflecting the growing strength of domestic capital in India’s venture ecosystem.
Aggarwal said Fundamentum sees India’s largest AI opportunity in application-layer products built on existing global models, particularly across financial services, content, and vernacular consumer applications, rather than in developing frontier AI models directly. The leadership change follows the earlier departure of general partner Ashish Kumar, who launched a separate AI-focused fund, Fundamentum Frontier Advisors, which also counts Nilekani as an anchor investor.
Featured image: Credit: Fundamentum