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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 approach

Funds

AUM
$0M

across four funds

Companies
0

across Consumer, Enterprise and Deeptech

Value Created
$0B
IPOs
0

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.

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
  • From Athera-backed startup to India's largest insurtech — NSE-listed, serving 8 crore+ registered users

    PolicyBazaar

    Listed on NSE in 2021

    IPO
  • $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

    Acquisition

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.

    Phanindra SamaCEO, redBus
  • More than any other VC we've met, Athera (then Inventus) understood our business. They just get it.

    Yashish DahiyaCEO, PolicyBazaar
  • “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.”

    Awais AhmedCO-FOUNDER & CEO, Pixxel
  • 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.

    Pavan SondurCO-FOUNDER & CEO, Unbxd
  • “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.”

    Tushar VasishtCO-FOUNDER & CEO, HealthifyMe
  • “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.”

    Vivek GoyalCO-FOUNDER, Playshifu
  • “Humbleness, A Partner, and Trust”, comes to my mind when I think about Athera.”

    Saurav KumarFOUNDER & CEO, Euler Motors
  • 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

    Deepesh AgarwalFounder and CEO, MoveInsync

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