Shastra VC

Shastra VC Research

Investment Thesis

Shastra VC is a Bengaluru-based early-stage fund (formerly Veda VC) that backs founders in frontier tech, climate tech and AI-native software at the stage "where belief comes before proof." Its stated motto is Belief, Conviction, Grit. The firm favors science-led, IP-driven companies: it reports 20+ patents filed across its portfolio, $10M+ in non-dilutable grants raised by portfolio companies, and 15+ PhD scholars on founding teams. The name Shastra is Sanskrit for systematic knowledge or science, and the 2026 rebrand signals a deliberate tilt toward deep science and engineering over conventional software.

Focus Areas

The site names three buckets:

• Frontier Tech: space tech, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, biotech, quantum computing, nanotechnology.
• Climate Tech: carbon removal, battery manufacturing and recycling, industrial energy efficiency.
• Software (AI/ML): AI infrastructure and developer tools, vertical AI applications, horizontal platforms, cybersecurity, consumer AI.

Fund III press coverage (May 2026) adds space, defense systems, AI and renewable sciences as priorities. The portfolio also contains a smaller set of fintech, logistics, consumer and edtech companies from earlier funds, and the LinkedIn page describes the firm as sector agnostic with interest in deep tech, climate, AI/ML and consumer internet.

Stage Focus

Shastra invests from Pre-Seed to Series A. Of the 39 companies on its portfolio page, the large majority were entered at Seed or Pre-Seed, with a few Series A entries (Avammune Therapeutics, Sanlayan). Fund III is structured to allow follow-ons into Series A and beyond.

Check Size

Fund III will write roughly $500K to $3M per company (The AI World, May 2026). Third-party profiles cite $200K to $3.5M across funds.

Lead Tendency

The portfolio page lists co-investors on nearly every company (3one4 Capital, Stellaris, Blume, BEENEXT, Antler, Capital 2B, Accel, RTP Global, Prime Venture Partners, Jungle Ventures and others), and several rounds are angel-only. Public sources do not say whether Shastra usually leads, so lead tendency is recorded as unknown.

Recent Activity

• Launched Fund III, a $100M fund for deeptech and AI startups (reported May 2026).
• Third-party trackers list roughly nine investments in 2026, with NuSynth Technologies and InspeCity among the latest.
• The home page highlights an FT feature on portfolio company Alt Carbon (enhanced rock weathering), Simplismart's $7M raise and InspeCity's $5.6M seed.
• Fund status: actively deploying.

Portfolio Highlights

• Simplismart: ML inference infrastructure, entered at Pre-Seed, now Series B with Accel and Nvidia.
• Alt Carbon: enhanced rock weathering carbon removal, entered at Pre-Seed, now Series B.
• InspeCity: satellite servicing vehicle, entered at Seed, now Series B.
• Avammune Therapeutics: small molecule immuno-oncology, entered at Series A, now Series B.
• SISIR Radar: L and P band SAR satellites.
• International Battery Company: Indian Li-ion NMC cell manufacturer.
• Agnit Semiconductors: GaN wafers and components.
• Sanlayan: acquires niche defense MSMEs and scales them into system integrators.

The site claims 40+ startups, over $50M deployed, and $1.5B combined market capitalization of portfolio companies. The portfolio page lists 39 companies.

Team

• Avijeet Alagathi, Managing Partner: portfolio management, investor relations and operations; leads fintech, healthtech and SMB SaaS. Previously founded BYG (acquired by Curefit); ex-Goldman Sachs; IIM alumnus.
• Vasant Rao, Managing Partner: venture partnerships, fundraising and operations; leads deeptech, frontier tech, enterprise SaaS and the creator ecosystem. Co-founded Autoninja (acquired by ICICI Lombard).
• Ashis Nayak, Founding Partner: portfolio management and ecosystem partnerships; leads marketplaces, B2B commerce, climate tech and SaaS. Co-founded Autoninja.
• Jivesh Madan, Principal and Head of SDEX Fellowship.
• Saurabh Gunwant, Associate Vice President: frontier-tech investments.
• Pratiti Chakraborty: compliance, investor relations and portfolio management.
• Investment analysts Shachi Jalote, Arushi Bhatt and Vinay Prasad, plus four student investment fellows from IIT Delhi and IIT Madras.

Advisors named in press include CP Gurnani and C. Jayaram, and the firm cites 30+ technical champions.

Decision Process

A three-person partnership (two Managing Partners and a Founding Partner) with sector ownership split between them. No public statement on timeline or warm-intro requirements; the site has a Google Form for pitches and [email protected].

Founder Preferences

Founders with clarity of thought, strength of conviction and drive to navigate uncertainty. Science-heavy teams, PhD founders and IP-backed companies are common in the portfolio. Shastra describes itself as founder-first, active beyond board meetings, and offers GTM, organization-building and fundraising playbooks. It also runs the SDEX fellowship.

Geographic Focus

India-focused, with Indian founders building for India and for global markets. Fund manager is VVC Management LLP, with Fund I registered as an AIF Category I and Fund II as an AIF Category II with SEBI.

Gaps

AUM is $160M+ on the website but about $100M in press coverage of Fund III; the site figure is used. Per-deal lead or follow role and exact 2026 deal dates were not verifiable.