The journey that began with grassroots initiatives to build India’s fintech ecosystem has now taken its next significant step, as Aagama Ventures announced the launch of a ₹400 Crore early-stage fund dedicated to fostering fintech innovation. Led by industry veterans Abhishant Pant, Shubhanga Prasad, and Pankaj Singh, the fund is the natural evolution of their efforts to catalyze India’s digital finance story.
Aagama Ventures is not a traditional venture capital fund; it is a story of community, collaboration, and deep-rooted expertise. The fund’s journey began with initiatives like the “Fintech Yatra,” a grassroots movement that built a value chain of over 3,000 fintech founders and 700+ venture investors. This community, which has undertaken unique journeys to cover 99% of the fintech ecosystem in India, has now grown into a formal institutional investment vehicle.
The fund aims to reinforce India’s role as a global fintech innovation hub by backing 15-20 startups and reserving 50% of the capital for follow-on investments. The fund aims to invest in 4-5 startups every year.
The fund’s leadership team brings unparalleled, hands-on experience:
- Abhishant Pant, known as the “Cashless Man of India,” founded The Fintech Meetup, a platform that has become India’s largest fintech ecosystem. He has over 15 years of experience in banking, payments and mobile money, with leadership roles at M-Pesa, Visa, and others. He believes that as money becomes digital and AI-driven, India is uniquely positioned to shape the future of financial technologies globally.
Shubhanga Prasad, COO at UK fintech unicorn
- Shubhanga Prasad, based in London, is an experienced fintech product leader who has served as Interim COO at UK fintech unicorn OakNorth and was previously with YES Bank. He is also a Partner at BetaPlus, a friends and family angel investment office that has made over 45 investments and had 10+ exits. He sees Aagama Ventures as a way to provide Indian founders with access to global networks for growth.
Pankaj Singh, Partner at YAN Fund
- Pankaj Singh, based in Delhi, is a Partner at YAN Fund (Cat 1 Angel Fund). With a decade of experience in corporate and commercial banking at institutions like Bank of America Merrill Lynch and ICICI Bank, he brings a strong foundation in core financial services. He believes that beyond financial capital, startups need network and knowledge, which their ecosystem provides.
Aagama Ventures will focus on three themes:
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Core Fintech: Payments, lending, wealth, and insurtech designed to scale responsibly both in India and across borders, for individuals and businesses alike
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Infrastructure & Deep Tech: AI, Data Engineering & Analytics, Cybersecurity, Core Banking, Insurance and wealth infrastructures besides emerging climate-tech platforms powering digital finance delivery
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Embedded Finance: Sector-focused platforms (agri, health, energy) integrating financial services into niche verticalised distribution moats
Reflecting on its community-led ethos, the fund counts senior leaders across finance and technology among its early backers, including:
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Veteran financial services CXOs: Rajat Monga (ex-YES Bank), Ashish Singhal (CEO, IBDIC), Bhavesh Gupta (ex-Paytm), Abhijit Singh (HDFC), Pratap Singh (ex-ICICI UK), Nilesh Gokral (Motilal Oswal), Vivek Belgavi (PwC)
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Fin + Tech entrepreneurs & operators: Naveen Kukreja (ex-CEO PaisBazaar), Aditya Tulsiyan (Founder, AxiTrust), Chiranth Patil (Co-founder, Riskcovry), Mayank Goyal (Founder, MoneyHop), Asif CH (CTO, Riskcovry), Vivek Padi (Principal Engineer, Qualcomm) among others
Shubhanga Prasad added, “This is possibly the first homegrown India-focused fintech fund built on the strength of a network rather than institutional backing or family wealth, and it’s testimony to the power of social capital. We see it as a generational opportunity to support founders shaping access to finance in India and beyond.”
