Vicus Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Vicus Ventures is a New York and San Francisco based seed fund founded in 2024 by brothers Raj Singh Sandhu and Sunny Singh Sandhu. The name is Latin for village, and the pitch is that it takes a village to build something enduring. The firm describes its model as network-as-a-service: a hand-picked group of 55 limited partners (the Vicus 55) made up of global c-suite executives, unicorn founders, renowned investors and well-known public figures, who are put to work for portfolio founders from day zero. The partners say they want to be the first call when things go wrong and the last to leave when things get hard. They say they optimize for how often they can be useful, not for board seats or logo count, and that they aim for minimum dilution and maximum impact.
Stage Focus
Seed and pre-seed. The launch letter says Vicus gets involved very early, often before a formal round, when pricing still reflects real company-building risk. Public data also shows participation in a Series A (Confido Health) and a Series B (Pallet), which were co-investments made through the pre-fund SPV period.
Check Size
Not disclosed. Fund I is capped at $55M, so initial checks are likely small relative to multistage funds, but no range is published. Check size is therefore left unset.
Lead Tendency
Unknown. Third-party data lists most known deals as co-investments, and the firm talks about being involved before a formal round. The public record does not say clearly whether Vicus leads rounds.
Recent Activity
Vicus announced Fund I on June 30, 2026: a $55M debut seed fund, deliberately capped as an homage to Punjab, the land of five rivers. Fortune first reported the close, and Wilson Sonsini advised on the fund. From 2023 the firm invested through SPVs and says it has backed more than 20 companies before the formal close. Caplight lists Calibre (pre-seed, May 2026), Flyway Health (seed, November 2025), Confido Health (Series A, September 2025) and Pallet (Series B, May 2025). PitchBook lists a November 2026 investment in Ancep. The fund is in its early deployment period.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm names four early breakouts on its launch page: Specter, Avoca, Pallet and Yuzu Health. Specter is a stealth defense company founded by Xerxes Libsch, an Anduril alum. Avoca builds AI agents that answer calls for HVAC and plumbing businesses. Pallet and Yuzu Health are the other two named companies. Other companies seen in third-party data include Confido Health, Flyway Health, KOMI, Calibre and Ancep. The site has no portfolio page (the /portfolio path returns 404), so the list above is assembled from the launch letter, Fortune and data aggregators, and is partial. No exits are disclosed.
Team
- Raj Singh Sandhu, Founding Partner. Spent about three years on wearables and AI at Alphabet's Verily.
- Sunny Singh Sandhu, Founding Partner. Previously a consultant at Bain.
Fortune reported their ages as 31 and 27. Neither has a prior institutional venture track record, so the LP roster and two years of SPV investing are the main basis for judging the firm.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. Two founding partners run the firm, which suggests a partnership decision between the brothers. The launch letter signs as Sunny and Raj.
Founder Preferences
Outlier founders at the earliest stages, building in the newer era of company building. Specter's founder describes the partners as first believers when he was leaving Anduril and as forward deployed investors. The existing portfolio leans toward applied AI in practical verticals, defense and national security, and health technology.
Limited Partners
The launch letter names partners at General Catalyst, Bain Capital and Kleiner Perkins, plus Zak Brown (McLaren), Jeff Wilke (former Amazon), David Blitzer (Blackstone), Mike Novogratz (Galaxy Digital), Tom Hale (Oura), Rohan Oza, Nehal Raj (TPG), Mark Stevens (NVIDIA board), Harjit Sajjan, Sumir Chadha (Westbridge), Tracy Sedlock (Accel), Andy Golden, and entertainers and athletes including Drake and Chris Paul.
Geographic Focus
US focused, with offices in New York and San Francisco. No other geographies are stated.
Gaps
Check size, lead tendency, decision timeline and the full portfolio are not published. No email addresses or LinkedIn URLs were collected for the team.