New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- Two senior executives of Bengaluru-headquartered non-profit enterprise The/Nudge Institute have teamed up to launch a new early-stage impact equity fund, VCCircle has learned.

Atul Satija, founder mentor at The/Nudge and who was its CEO between 2015 and 2026, and Richa Singh, managing partner-impact investing at the non-profit, have floated Tilt First Edition, a fund that is focussed on early-stage businesses. The fund will invest across agricultural value chains, MSME productivity, market access, financial inclusion and climate resilience, among others.

The vehicle completed its first close on August 24, 2026. It is anchored by Livelihood Impact Fund and backed by prominent entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists including Deep Kalra, Amit Gupta, Hari Menon, Binny Bansal, the Raj and Indra Nooyi family office, and Vidit Aatrey.

About half of the fund's commitments has come from institutions such as Livelihood Impact Fund, and the remaining half from individual investors, said Singh, co-managing partner at Tilt, in a conversation with VCCircle.

Tilt is targeting a corpus of Rs 250 crore (around $26 million) and plans to build a portfolio of 20-25 companies. It will typically invest from Seed to Series A, with cheque sizes ranging from Rs 2-16 crore, particularly in science and technology-led businesses.

"We are targeting startups that create economic opportunities for India's Next Billion but are not yet ready to raise conventional commercial capital. These businesses often operate in more challenging markets and require flexible capital to prove their models and reach a stage where growth can generate market-based returns," Singh said.

Singh said the fund's target corpus was arrived at based on the number of organisations that have the potential to deliver both impact and financial returns.

Investing framework

Agricultural value chains and climate resilience are likely to account for about half of the portfolio, although the allocation will ultimately depend on the strength of opportunities identified across the broader mandate.

"Our mandate is to provide impact-first capital to businesses creating economic opportunities for India's Next Billion," Singh said.

On the return expectations, she said, that they are grounded in the realities of the businesses in which they invest. "Our LPs also invest with impact maximisation as a core objective. At the same time, commercial discipline remains essential: we look for strong teams, viable business models and the potential to achieve meaningful scale in the long run," Singh said.

The fund plans to take a portfolio approach. This, she said, is from "recognising that supporting innovation in underserved markets may require longer holding periods and a higher tolerance for failure".

Measuring impact

TILT will also link its team's carry to measured impact. It will assess impact at the portfolio level, covering both the scale and depth of livelihood impact. An independent third party will verify the outcomes against predefined goals.

Singh said the exercise is also intended to help develop a common language for measuring and discussing impact within the impact-first investing category.

The fund will typically invest after companies have moved beyond their earliest pilot stage. "Many impact enterprises receive grant capital or small initial investments to develop and test early pilots. Tilt typically comes in after this stage," Singh said.

The fund plans to help companies strengthen their business models, build organisational capabilities, measure their impact and prepare for larger rounds of institutional capital.

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