Momentum Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Momentum Capital is a global seed-stage venture capital firm founded in January 2023 by Ankur Shrivastava after he co-founded and scaled Globevestor. The firm targets founders of Indian origin building energy, industrial, health, and resource-transition technologies at the pre-seed and seed stage, with the explicit belief that innovations proven in India and other emerging markets are scalable across the broader Global South. The firm operates across three geographies simultaneously (US, Canada, India) and positions itself as a "global seed VC for Indian-origin founders."
Momentum's stated investment framework rests on two pillars: Mass (huge addressable markets, stellar teams, acute problems, right timing, transformative potential) and Velocity (sound strategy, solid traction, customer validation, bias to action, defensible technology). The firm is explicit about aiming to fund roughly one new startup per month.
Sector Focus
The portfolio skews heavily toward climate and industrial decarbonization, with a smaller, deliberate health tech sleeve:
- Energy transition and long-duration storage (Verne, EarthEn Energy, VoltSeal)
- Industrial decarbonization (Climitra - steel, CarbonStrong - concrete, Protonas - hydrogen fuel cells)
- Circular economy and recycling (Recove - plastics, Beyond Renewables - solar panel recycling, Brisil - green silica from rice husk)
- Sustainable materials and biomanufacturing (Fermeate, Cellarim, PlanetMatLabs, Dharaksha)
- Water systems (DigitalPaani)
- Health tech (Dognosis, Confido, CircleHealth, KinderPass)
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed only. The firm describes itself as a "micro-VC" and typically writes the earliest institutional check into a company, in several cases explicitly noted as the "early" or "pre-seed" investor (e.g., Confido Health, Dharaksha) ahead of larger firms leading subsequent rounds.
Check Size
Check size is not publicly disclosed. Rounds the firm has led or co-led have totaled roughly Rs 5-6 crore (~$600K-$720K) at pre-seed/seed, consistent with a micro-VC check in the low hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars range. Treat check size as low-confidence until directly confirmed.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Momentum Capital has explicitly led rounds (Beyond Renewables & Recycling pre-seed, Recove pre-seed) and also participated as an early/non-lead investor in others (Cellarim Labs seed led by 3i Partners and Venture Catalysts; Vimano seed led by Ankur Capital; Confido Health Series A led by Blume Ventures; Dharaksha Series B led by Avaana Capital).
Recent Activity
Fund I has deployed into 13 portfolio companies as of September 2025, with plans for 10-12 additional investments over the following year at roughly one per month. In September 2025, the firm was reported (via VCCircle) to be planning a larger Fund II raise within six months. Recent named rounds:
- Cellarim Labs seed, Rs 6 crore, December 2025 (participated)
- Beyond Renewables & Recycling pre-seed, Rs 5 crore, October 2025 (led)
- Recove pre-seed, Rs 5.3 crore, September 2025 (led)
- Confido Health Series A, $10M, September 2025 (participated; early pre-seed backer)
- Vimano seed, Rs 25 crore, April 2025 (participated)
Portfolio Highlights
21 named portfolio companies span climate tech (VoltSeal, DigitalPaani, Protonas, PlanetMatLabs, eCoil, Verne, Climitra, Cellarim, Brisil, Beyond Renewables, Recove, Vimano, EarthEn Energy, CarbonStrong, Focal, Dharaksha) and health tech (Dognosis, CircleHealth, Confido, KinderPass). Notable follow-on validation: Dharaksha raised a Rs 24.8 crore Series B from Avaana Capital in September 2024; Confido Health raised a $10M Series A led by Blume Ventures in September 2025.
Team
- Ankur Shrivastava, Managing Partner (Toronto, Canada) - Co-founded and scaled Globevestor to a 1,000+ CXO investor network; led nearly 70 investments across climate, health, and deeptech. Former BCG and SDG strategy consultant. Mechanical engineering, IIT Bombay.
- Bharti Singhla, Principal (New York, US) - Climate tech entrepreneur; joint MBA/MS in Environmental Science from Stanford; co-founded/COO'd Chakr Innovation; former BCG consultant; chemical engineer, IIT Delhi.
- Atharva Wagle, Investment Associate (Mumbai, India) - First point of contact for founders; CFA Level 3; former senior analyst at Deutsche Bank Mumbai; chemical engineering degrees from IIT Kharagpur.
- Adeo Ressi, Venture Partner (Bay Area, US) - CEO of VC Lab, chairman of Founder Institute (200+ city network, 4,500+ companies launched).
- Mike Suprovici, Venture Partner (Bay Area, US) - Head of Acceleration for VC Lab; previously co-led investor relations for 200+ LPs.
- Abhilash Singh, Venture Partner (Bengaluru, India) - Founding Director of Auctus Advisors; ex-AT Kearney and SDG; mechanical engineering, IIT Bombay.
- Bill Draper, Advisor (Bay Area, US) - VC since 1959; founded Sutter Hill Ventures; former Export-Import Bank President and UN Development Program head.
- Adam Draper, Advisor (Bay Area, US) - Founder/managing director of Boost VC; early investor in Coinbase and Amplitude.
- Brayton Williams, Advisor (Bay Area, US) - Co-founded Boost VC with Adam Draper.
- Kanti Prabha, Advisor (Toronto, Canada) - Co-founder of SirionLabs; supports women-led startups.
Decision Process
Partnership-led: Managing Partner and Principal drive investment decisions with input from venture partners (several affiliated with VC Lab/Founder Institute) and advisors. The firm runs an open, non-gated intake ("Pitch Us" submission portal via DecileHub), indicating warm intros are not required to be considered.
Founder Preferences
Founders of Indian origin (in India, the US, or Canada) building technical, defensible solutions to acute problems in energy, industrial, resource, and health systems, with a bias toward teams that can demonstrate early customer traction ("Velocity") against a large addressable market ("Mass").
Geographic Focus
Global with three operating hubs: United States, Canada, and India. Registered entity address is in Newark, Delaware; the Managing Partner is based in Toronto and the Principal in New York, with the Investment Associate and most portfolio companies based in India (Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai).