Riceberg Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Riceberg Ventures is a global early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm founded in 2023 by Ankit Anand, Mredul Sarda, Shubham Raj, and Lino Gandola. The firm's thesis centers on backing "mission-driven founders building breakthrough technologies to solve humanity's most complex, large-scale challenges." Their name reflects an "iceberg" metaphor: like the submerged mass of an iceberg, they look past surface-level technology applications to find deep, foundational innovation capable of driving decades of advancement. Managing Partner Ankit Anand has framed the philosophy as: "True venture success comes from investing in disruptive solutions that create entirely new markets or redefine existing ones."
Sector Focus
The firm organizes its thesis around six deep-tech domains:
- Spacetech (launch vehicles, satellite propulsion, in-space services)
- Medtech / Life Sciences (diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical-grade hardware)
- Cleantech & Energy (decarbonization, propulsion, energy infrastructure)
- Cybersecurity (AI-native intelligence and security, identity)
- Future of Compute (specialized silicon, quantum, post-cloud architectures)
- Foundational AI & Robotics (foundational models, embodied intelligence)
They explicitly favor deep-tech and hard-tech companies over pure software plays, describing "the most valuable invention" as "frequently invisible" — i.e., infrastructure-level breakthroughs rather than surface-level applications.
Stage Focus
Riceberg invests at Pre-Seed and Seed. Their public fund materials describe a plan to back 25-30 startups globally from a single vehicle, which points to a high-volume, small-check early-stage strategy rather than concentrated late-stage bets.
Check Size
The firm's $20M fund (announced January 2025) targets an average check size of roughly $500K per company, implying a typical range of $250K-$1M per initial investment, consistent with a Pre-Seed/Seed-focused, portfolio-construction-driven approach.
Lead Tendency
Observed deals show Riceberg as a participant rather than a lead: EtherealX's $20.5M Series A was co-led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital with Riceberg as one of several participants (alongside Accel, Prosus, YourNest, BlueHill Capital, and Campus Fund), and Cellbricks Therapeutics' €10M raise was led by Silicon Roundabout Ventures with Riceberg among the backers. This suggests the firm typically follows or co-invests alongside larger or sector-focused leads rather than leading rounds itself.
Recent Activity
- January 2025: Launched a $20M fund focused on SpaceTech, AI, cybersecurity, novel energy, semiconductors, and quantum computing, targeting 25-30 portfolio companies.
- January 2026: Participated in EtherealX's $20.5M Series A (reusable medium-lift rockets), which lifted the Bangalore-based startup's valuation roughly 6x versus its 2024 seed round.
- March 2026: Participated in Cellbricks Therapeutics' €10M raise (€7M seed + €3M non-dilutive funding) to advance bio-printed living tissue implants toward clinical use.
- May 2026: Published a sector thesis, "Spacetech: backing the full stack of the orbital economy," outlining the firm's view on the orbital economy value chain from launch access to in-space mobility and habitats.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm's portfolio spans roughly 18 companies across its six focus sectors, including EtherealX (reusable rockets), Manastu Space and AkashaLabdhi (spacetech, India), Signatur Biosciences and Keyron Medical (UK medtech), Cellbricks Therapeutics and Sleepiz (health/medtech, Germany/Switzerland), Swisspod and CPTI (cleantech/energy), Arch0 and Rigor AI (cybersecurity), Dirac Labs (quantum), and Skylark Labs and AMI Labs (foundational AI/robotics). No exits have been publicly reported yet, consistent with the firm's young age (founded 2023) and early-stage focus.
Team
Riceberg operates as a distributed, four-partner team plus a bench of venture partners and an operating/investment team spanning multiple continents:
- Ankit Anand, Managing Partner (Zurich / San Francisco) — physicist-turned-entrepreneur, co-founder
- Lino Gandola, Managing Partner (London)
- Mredul Sarda, General Partner (Mumbai)
- Shubham Raj, General Partner (Bangalore / San Francisco)
- Prof Uday Desai, Venture Partner (Hyderabad)
- Prasad Chaganti, Venture Partner (London)
- Gaurav Lakhwani, CMO and Venture Partner (Amsterdam)
- Shrikant Sathe, Venture Partner (New York)
- Sree Lakshmi, Head of Kicksky Space Labs (Bangalore)
- Arushi Sangal, Investment Team (Delhi)
- Abhinav Gupta, Investment Team (San Francisco)
- Joyce Mo, Investment Team (San Francisco)
- Margaret Cady, Investor Relations (London)
- Archana Anand, Operational Team (Bangalore)
Decision Process
With four co-founding partners spread across Zurich, London, Mumbai, and Bangalore/San Francisco, and a venture-partner bench supporting sector diligence, decisions appear to run through a partnership model rather than a solo-GP structure.
Founder Preferences
Riceberg explicitly seeks "founders who go deeper than the surface" — technical, mission-driven entrepreneurs solving hard problems in energy, healthcare, space, climate, and cybersecurity. The firm frames complexity as an advantage rather than a deterrent, targeting founders who "welcome complexity and use it to their advantage to build long-lasting, scalable companies."
Geographic Focus
The firm describes itself as "the world's first truly global early-stage deep-tech fund," with operations across six countries (Switzerland, US, UK, India represented among partner locations) and a portfolio spanning India, Germany, UK, Switzerland, France, and the US. India appears to be a particularly deep market for them via the Kicksky Space Labs accelerator initiative (India's first spacetech accelerator), run by team member Sree Lakshmi.
Special Initiatives
Riceberg operates Kicksky Space Labs, described as India's first spacetech accelerator, indicating a deliberate strategy of building sector-specific pipeline infrastructure in addition to direct investing.