New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- Novastar Partners, an India-focused private markets investment platform, has committed capital to early-stage venture capital fund A Junior VC (AJVC), marking its maiden limited partner-style investment.

The investment comes as Novastar looks to build a diversified portfolio of venture capital and private equity funds focused on technology and technology-enabled businesses. It also provides Novastar's investors with exposure to AJVC's portfolio of pre-seed companies and forms part of the platform's strategy of backing fund managers with differentiated investment approaches.

Novastar said in a statement it will seek curated exposure to India's private markets through investments in funds alongside selective direct investments in private companies.

Founded by Aviral Bhatnagar, AJVC manages a corpus of around Rs 165 crore and focuses on pre-seed investments in Indian startups across areas including artificial intelligence, healthcare, deeptech, consumer technology and brands. The fund has backed more than 35 companies and plans to invest in more than 85 companies over its fund life.

"We believe a programmatic investing approach, on the premise that a small number of outsized winners will go on to generate the majority of returns, is one of the most effective frameworks for pre-seed investing. It is particularly relevant to India, where the startup ecosystem continues to deepen across emerging sectors and technologies," said Dhruv Jhunjhunwala, founder and managing partner of Novastar Partners.

"AJVC stood out for pursuing this investment strategy, and we believe Aviral is uniquely positioned to execute it given his deep network within the early-stage founder ecosystem."

Bhatnagar founded AJVC after nearly a decade of early-stage investing experience, including at Venture Highway.

Novastar was founded by Dhruv and is building an India-focused private markets platform through investments in VC and PE funds, and via selective direct investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Jhunjhunwala said AJVC's programmatic approach to pre-seed investing and Bhatnagar's founder network were key factors behind the investment.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.