Ashish Dave, former CEO (India) of Mirae Asset Venture Investments, is launching Sanskrit Capital, a new venture capital firm targeting a corpus of Rs 700-1,000 crore for its inaugural fund, according to sources. The firm will be sector-agnostic and focus on Series B and Series C startups that have achieved product-market fit and are entering the scaling phase. Sanskrit Capital is expected to operate as a single-GP (general partner) fund and is close to securing Sebi approval as an AIF (alternative investment fund). It is likely to attract capital from domestic family offices, entrepreneurs, and founders. The fund plans to write cheques ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 150 crore, with additional capital reserved for follow-on investments in high-conviction portfolio companies. While sector-agnostic in approach, its key focus areas will include fintech, consumer internet, logistics, healthcare, and enterprise AI applications. Dave joined Mirae Asset Venture Investments in 2018, helping establish the Korean firm’s venture capital operations in India after a three-year stint at Kalaari Capital. He stepped down from Mirae last year. The launch comes amid a wave of new venture firms founded by former investment executives. Last month, former Peak XV Partners executives Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal, and Tejeshwi Sharma launched Mettle Capital, which plans to invest primarily in Series A and Series B startups, alongside select seed-stage opportunities. The firm is expected to begin deploying capital later this year after completing fundraising. Separately, former Peak XV managing directors Shailesh Lakhani and Harshjit Sethi have launched Ambition Capital, targeting a $250 million fund focused on seed and Series A investments. Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever. You may find a list of our investorshere.
