Athera Venture Partners
India's most ambitious founders build with us.
Four funds. Forty-three companies. Seventeen years of backing India's most resilient founders before the market does.
Our conviction
We've been backing India's most resilient technology founders since 2008 — before it was consensus.
India is producing world-class technology companies at an accelerating pace. The founders we back combine sharp product insight with the conviction to build businesses that last — not just companies that raise.
Our approachFunds
- AUM
- $0M
- Companies
- 0
- Value Created
- $0B
- IPOs
- 0
across four funds
across Consumer, Enterprise and Deeptech
9/21 companies in Fund 1 & 2 had profitable exits.
Portfolio
Companies we've backed
From idea-stage to IPO — we've been alongside some of India's most defining companies.
PolicyBazaar
Consumer TechFIIOnline B2C insurance and lending products aggregator.
redBus
Consumer TechFIOnline ticketing for Intercity bus travel across India.
MoveInSync
Enterprise/SaaSFIIEmployee transportation and workplace management software.
Pixxel
Deep TechFIIILow earth satellite imagery.
Euler
Deep TechFIIISmall Cargo Electric Vehicles for intra city logistics.
Unbxd
Enterprise/SaaSFIISearch and Product Discovery for eCommerce
Ati Motors
Deep TechFIVAutonomous mobile robots using 3D LIDAR.
ClickPost
Enterprise/SaaSFIVLogistics management platform for online retailers.
Picsee
Consumer TechFIVSocial photo sharing
Hyperbots
Enterprise/SaaSFIVAI assistants for finance.
Tricog
Deep TechFIIRemote ECG diagnostics on the cloud.
Track Record
Built to last.
The real test of a company isn’t the exit. It’s what happens next.
Most venture funds measure success at the moment of exit. We don’t. Our portfolio companies — redBus, Policybazaar, Sokrati, Unbxd — kept growing, capturing markets, and compounding value long after we sold. That’s what happens when you back businesses built on structural advantages, not market timing.
Our investment thesis- IPO
From Athera-backed startup to India's largest insurtech — NSE-listed, serving 8 crore+ registered users
PolicyBazaar
Listed on NSE in 2021
- Acquisition
$1Bn+ in annual ticket GMV — the world's most-used bus booking platform, now in 6 countries
redBus
Acquired by Makemytrip
- Acquisition
AI-powered product discovery at global scale — acquired by Netcore and powering leading e-commerce platforms worldwide
Unbxd
Acquired by Netcore
- Acquisition
Dentsu's performance marketing powerhouse in India — driving measurable ROI for 300+ enterprise brands
Sokrati
Acquired by Dentsu
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Portfolio exits shown are historical and individual results may vary.
In their words
“Athera (then Inventus) is thoughtful and friendly. Just the kind of people an entrepreneur wants on their board.”
“More than any other VC we've met, Athera (then Inventus) understood our business. They just get it.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with the Inventus team ever since our first interaction with them. They have been no-nonsense, fast-moving, incredible supporters.”
“The Inventus team walks the talk about being entrepreneur friendly. They bring in tremendous experience with scaling technology companies that have helped shape our critical successful decisions.”
“Athera (then Inventus) team stands out in how grounded they are. They don’t chase “flavours of the year” but go for real companies and founders.”
“Athera led our Series A as well as Series B round. Their crucial advice at every step has helped us expand from 15 to 40 countries, and go from 250k users to 1 Mn.”
“Humbleness, A Partner, and Trust”, comes to my mind when I think about Athera.”
“I am yet to come across a VC firm that is as founder-friendly as Inventus. Not only the initial process was very smooth but all across the six years period - I found Inventus to be very helpful and encouraging during my association from 2013 to 2019. During difficult times - they stood by me and my team at funtoot and supported us solidly. What can be more testimony than Inventus investing in us a second and third time in 2015 and in 2016 despite the fact that no one came out to invest in us at that point! At the time of exit - Inventus helped close the deal with Embibe - a Reliance Jio subsidiary ensuring that all investors and shareholders have fair returns. Thanks Parag and Rutvik. It was great having you on our board. It was great working with you, and would love to be working with you again and again if the opportunity comes!”
“Inventus/Athera has been our first institutional investor. As an entrepreneur, the business has witnessed many ups and downs with them on our board. i must say that they (Samir in particular and Rutvik multiple times) have always been supportive. they have always given advice which is right for the company. i also liked the fact that even if my decision was not as per their expectation, they always respected the founder decision. They have also been a great mentor to both me and my co-founder. i would love to have them on my cap table even for my second journey, if that ever happens”
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