Aviral Bhatnagar’s AJVC Caps Debut Fund at $19 million
AJVC aims to invest in up to 70 early-stage companies focused on AI and consumer internet
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[Image source: Chetan Jha/MITSMR Middle East]
A Junior VC (AJVC), the pre-seed investment firm founded by former Venture Highway investor Aviral Bhatnagar, has closed its maiden fund at ₹165 crore (about $19 million), exceeding its original target of ₹100 crore.
The fund received commitments of more than ₹200 crore but was capped using the green shoe option.
“India is witnessing an unprecedented wave of first-time entrepreneurs. Meeting their ambition requires venture capital to operate at an entirely new velocity,” Bhatnagar said.
So far this year, Indian startups have raised $11.5 billion across 1,300 equity rounds, Tracxn data showed.
Bhatnagar, who previously led enterprise software and AI investments at Venture Highway, launched AJVC in September last year.
Since then, the firm has received more than 11,000 applications from early-stage startups across 65 cities, 6,000 colleges, and 4,000 companies.
So far, AJVC has backed 25 startups in AI and consumer tech, typically investing ₹1.5 crore ($180,000) for a 9% stake.
Portfolio firms include TruFides, which builds AI agents for fraud and risk teams, and Chop Finance, a generative AI platform for finance and accounting professionals.
AJVC said its average first response time over the past year has been around 31 hours.
“My greatest joy is seeing a company get its first customers. To accelerate that magic, AJVC offers access to a 600,000+ strong network and ₹4 crore ($480,000) worth of resources,” Bhatnagar posted on LinkedIn.
The firm said it plans to invest in 60–70 more startups in the coming years.
AJVC started in 2018 as a blog, “Life of a Junior VC,” which aimed to make the startup world more accessible.
AJVC’s recent investments include jewellery brand Nuyug and FMCG venture Mithila Foods.
