gradCapital

Reviewed Updated Mar 24, 2026

This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.

Location Bengaluru, India
Founded 2021
Fund Size $1M (Fund I, 2021); $6M (Fund II, 2023); ~$7M total raised
Website https://www.gradcapital.in
Stage Focus
pre-seed
Sector Focus
sector-agnostic

Team

Abhishek Sethi Co-Founder & Partner
Prateek Behera Co-Founder & Head of Grants
Debamita Banerjee Partner
Kshitij Khandelwal Partner
Sambhav Jain Partner

About

gradCapital is a pre-seed venture capital firm based in Bengaluru, India, that exclusively backs startups founded by college students 1. The firm was founded in 2021 by Abhishek Sethi, a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad, and Prateek Behera, a graduate of BITS Pilani 2. Both founders were approximately 24 years old at launch and had minimal prior venture capital experience — Sethi had one year as a VC analyst and Behera had one year in finance 3.

gradCapital launched with a $1 million Fund I in 2021, deploying approximately $25,000 per startup into 20 companies over one year, supported by an eight-week intensive program run in partnership with CIIE.CO (The Innovation Continuum at IIM Ahmedabad) 4. The firm’s lead LP for Fund I was CIIE, through partners Vipul and Kunal from the Bharat Fund 3.

In September 2023, gradCapital launched its second fund of $6 million, increasing its standard check size to $40,000 for 4% equity 5. Fund II LPs include CIIE (IIM Ahmedabad), Ankur Warikoo (co-founder of Nearbuy), Alagu Periyannan (co-founder of Blue Jeans Network), and Kanwal Rekhi (co-founder and MD of Inventus Capital Partners) 6. Fund I returned approximately 2x its initial value within 18 months 6.

Before launching the fund, Sethi and Behera ran a pilot program offering to help student founders get into Y Combinator, receiving 500 applications from a single LinkedIn post and selecting a cohort of eight companies including KiranaKart (now Zepto), Humit, Codedamn, Valerio Electric, and Neuralastic 34. The firm’s most notable portfolio company, Zepto, became a unicorn — gradCapital’s first 5.

As of early 2026, gradCapital has invested in approximately 34 companies, with 2 portfolio exits, and its most recent investment was a $2 million seed round in Pluto Mobility alongside Version One Ventures in February 2026 78. The firm also runs an Atomic Fellowship, distributing $5,000 grants to STEM students with innovative project ideas, backed by Peter Thiel’s Emergent Ventures and Kshitij Khandelwal (co-founder and CTO of Pixxel) 6.

Stated Thesis

gradCapital publicly describes itself as backing “rebellious student founders” and is sector agnostic 1. Co-founder Abhishek Sethi has stated that the firm’s thesis rests on three core advantages of student founders: irrational optimism (willingness to attempt seemingly impossible ventures), purpose over profits (motivation beyond monetary returns), and frictionless team formation (organic team-building within campus communities) 3.

Sethi has written that students “create the most impact within entrepreneurship,” citing that $85 billion or more of India’s $220 billion in unicorn value originated from student founders 3. The firm positions itself as building “invisible infrastructure” to make it easier for students to raise capital 3.

As of 2025, the firm has expanded its investment tiers: $200,000 for 10% for students who want to work full-time on their idea, $60,000 for 5% for students with time before graduation, and $2,500 grants for project-stage work 9.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 12 verified investments (approximately 35% of the firm’s claimed 34 portfolio companies), the following patterns emerge. Sample size is small; percentages should be treated as directional.

Stage distribution: All verified investments are at pre-seed stage, consistent with the firm’s stated focus. gradCapital invests at the earliest stages — often when founders are still in college with little more than a prototype or project.

Sector breakdown: The portfolio is genuinely sector-agnostic, spanning consumer tech (Zepto, Ripen, Nudgenow), deeptech/hardware (Airbound drones, MEINE Electric energy storage, Valerio Electric), edtech/AI (Stimuler, Codedamn), enterprise applications, and mobility (Pluto Mobility). Based on 12 verified companies: 3 consumer/commerce (25%), 3 deeptech/hardware (25%), 2 mobility/EV (17%), 2 edtech (17%), 1 AI/ML (8%), 1 unknown (8%). The sector-agnostic claim is supported by actual portfolio diversity.

Geographic focus: Predominantly India-based startups, with 2 investments in the United States out of approximately 34 total 7. Pan-India coverage with decentralized operations and campus partnerships 4.

Check size: Fund I deployed ~$25,000 per company 4. Fund II increased to $40,000 for 4% equity 5. The newer $200K/$60K tiers suggest larger checks for higher-conviction bets 9.

Founder profile: All portfolio founders are college students or recent graduates. The firm sources from a broad range of Indian institutions — not exclusively elite engineering schools. The pilot cohort included founders from varied academic backgrounds 4. The firm has hired Debamita Banerjee specifically to increase women founder representation 10.

Follow-on patterns: Approximately 30% of cohort companies secure follow-on funding averaging $600,000, often from investors like Lightspeed and Rainmatter Capital 56. This suggests gradCapital functions partly as a pipeline to larger venture firms.

Co-investor patterns: Later-stage co-investors include Lightspeed, Rainmatter Capital, Version One Ventures, Good Capital, Antler, and Venture Catalysts 781112.

Notable gap: The firm claims to invest in women entrepreneurs specifically, but the publicly available portfolio skews heavily toward male founders based on available data.

Portfolio

Company Stage Year Sector Status
Zepto (fka KiranaKart) Pre-seed (equity-free cohort) 2021 Quick commerce Active (unicorn) 5
Humit Pre-seed (pilot) ~2021 Consumer/Music Acquired (Mission Uncrossable, 2024) 414
Codedamn Pre-seed (pilot) ~2021 Edtech Unknown 4
Valerio Electric Pre-seed (pilot) ~2021 EV charging Unknown 4
Neuralastic Pre-seed (pilot) ~2021 AI/ML Unknown 4
Stimuler Pre-seed ~2022 AI/speech tech Active 15
Nudgenow Pre-seed ~2022 Consumer/SaaS Active 1
Airbound Pre-seed ~2022 Drone delivery Active 13
Ripen Pre-seed ~2023 Consumer/fintech Active 5
Fragmynt (fka Hazlo) Pre-seed 2022-02-15 Blockchain/NFT fintech Active 31516
MEINE Electric Pre-seed 2026 Energy storage Active 11
Pluto Mobility Seed 2026 EV/delivery vehicles Active 8

This table represents approximately 35% of gradCapital’s claimed 34 investments. Only 12 of 34 portfolio companies could be independently verified with specific details. Many investments, particularly from Fund II cohorts, are not individually documented in public sources.

In Their Own Words

Abhishek Sethi, on why they started the fund: “We genuinely believe in academic spaces. Entrepreneurship is a way to bring such strong ideas to life and create value for society.” — Outlook Business, May 2021 4

Abhishek Sethi, on the founding vision: “Building a VC firm for students, by students and of students — like a democracy.” — gradCapital Substack, April 2022 3

Abhishek Sethi, on the fund’s thesis: “We dreamt of a localised yet scalable solution where students can get funded by a more approachable entity. We wanted to build the ‘invisible infrastructure’ to make it easier for students to raise capital & for capital to find the best investment assets.” — gradCapital Substack, April 2022 3

Abhishek Sethi, on their thesis validation: “Our MVP was the evidence that the student thesis could work. Evidence made our thesis real.” — gradCapital Substack, April 2022 3

Abhishek Sethi, on motivation: “Honestly, it’s because we wanted to be around students who want to start their own companies.” — gradCapital Substack, April 2022 3

What Founders Say

Anagha, founder of BioCompute (portfolio company), on gradCapital’s approach: “they don’t care about fancy decks and random business jargon” — BioCompute blog, 2024 10

Anagha, founder of BioCompute, on partner support: “gC at its core is a CAAS startup — co-founder as a service” — BioCompute blog, 2024 10

Anagha, founder of BioCompute, on investment speed: “The speed at which gC went from an expression of interest to IC and the term sheet is incredible” — BioCompute blog, 2024 10

Anagha, founder of BioCompute, on the partners: Described Abhishek and Prateek as people founders call during their worst days, who sit down to troubleshoot and help resolve problems as if they were the biggest in the world 10.

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials found beyond the BioCompute blog post. The firm operates a house in Indiranagar, Bengaluru, that serves as both office and accommodation for portfolio founders, described by founders as feeling like a second home 10.

Sources

  1. IndianVCs, “gradCapital investor profile,” accessed March 2026. https://www.indianvcs.com/investor/gradcapital↩↩↩↩

  2. India Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia), tweet announcing gradCapital launch, June 2021. https://x.com/EduMinOfIndia/status/1400393584105250822↩

  3. Abhishek Sethi, “Starting a (student) VC in India,” gradCapital Substack, April 2022. https://gradcapital.substack.com/p/story↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Outlook Business, “IIM-A, BITS Grads Initiate $1 Mn Fund to Support Student Startups,” May 2021. https://www.outlookmoney.com/career/iim-a-bits-grads-initiate-1-mn-fund-to-support-student-startups-7419↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  5. Inc42, “VC Firm gradCapital Launches $6 Mn Second Fund To Back Students Building Startups,” September 2023. https://inc42.com/buzz/vc-firm-gradcapital-launches-6-mn-second-fund-to-back-students-building-startups/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. The Story Watch, “VC firm gradCapital launches second fund of $6 million,” September 2023. https://thestorywatch.com/vc-firm-gradcapital-launches-second-fund-of-6-million/↩↩↩↩

  7. Tracxn, “gradCapital — 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends,” accessed March 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/accelerator-incubator/gradcapital/__fwwfSbOEdEPy5KYG7AryHi9-RcpemNfDZYNEQwu6ZGU↩↩↩

  8. Entrackr, “Pluto Mobility raises $2 Mn in seed round,” February 2026. https://entrackr.com/snippets/pluto-mobility-raises-2-mn-in-seed-round-11132728↩↩↩

  9. Abhishek Sethi (@abhisheksethi96), tweet announcing new funding tiers, 2025. https://x.com/abhisheksethi96/status/1981678500181664009↩↩

  10. Anagha (BioCompute), “BioCompute X gradCapital,” BioCompute blog, 2024. https://blog.biocomputeinc.com/p/biocompute-x-gradcapital↩↩↩↩↩↩

  11. Energetica India, “Meine Electric Raises USD 750,000 Pre-Seed Funding to Scale Iron Air Long Duration Energy Storage Technology,” January 2026. https://www.energetica-india.net/news/meine-electric-raises-usd-750000-pre-seed-funding-to-scale-iron-air-long-duration-energy-storage-technology↩↩

  12. Startup Story Media, “gradCapital Launches $6 Million Fund for Indian Student Startups,” September 2023. https://startupstorymedia.com/insights-gradcapital-launches-6-million-fund-for-indian-student-startups/↩

  13. GlobeNewsWire, “Airbound Secures $1.7M to Make Drone Delivery Economically Viable Everywhere,” November 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/11/14/2981152/0/en/Airbound-Secures-1-7M-to-Make-Drone-Delivery-Economically-Viable-Everywhere.html↩

  14. Mission Uncrossable, “Mission Uncrossable Joins Forces with Humit,” August 2024. https://missionuncrossabledemo.com/acquired-humit-app/↩

  15. Tracxn, “Fragmynt — 2025 Funding Rounds & List of Investors,” accessed April 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/companies/fragmynt/__xEDir0rcVLYIPxHlyOhPjtr9XCmha1PYkCKrEdmDY0Q/funding-and-investors↩

  16. Tracxn, “Fragmynt — 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors,” accessed April 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/companies/fragmynt/__xEDir0rcVLYIPxHlyOhPjtr9XCmha1PYkCKrEdmDY0Q↩