New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- Early-stage venture capital firm AJVC (A Junior VC) has made the final close of its maiden fund at Rs 165 crore ($18.7 million), exceeding its target of Rs 100 crore.
The fund, which was floated by Aviral Bhatnagar, a former investor with Venture Highway, reached the milestone in just nine months since its launch in September 2024. The fund's limited partners include global institutions and family offices, AJVC said, without disclosing their names.
Bhatnagar, founder and solo partner at AJVC, said that the fund received commitments of over Rs 200 crore but it "chose to remain disciplined", closing at nearly Rs 165 crore.
To be sure, the fund had met its target earlier this year and had been considering exercising the greenshoe option, VCCircle reported in March.
"At AJVC, we are building a new-age investment firm, where technology powers deeper diligence, smoother fundraising, and scalable support. Our vision is simple: to back hundreds of founders while staying uncompromisingly founder-first," Bhatnagar added.
The VC firm claimed that it has already received over 11,000 applications from founding teams and that it has backed 25 startups, with a focus on AI and consumer technology. The fund plans to support an additional 60-70 additional teams in the coming years. Beyond capital, it seeks to provide its portfolio companies access to a strong peer network and community-led programmes.
Bhatnagar has prior experience of investing in software-as-a-service (SaaS), consumer and AI startups at Venture Highway, which was last year acquired by US-based VC firm General Catalysts.
To be sure, Bhatnagar started AJVC as a blog six years ago. He used to write about startups, and the tech and VC ecosystems. He launched the VC firm last year.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.