T V Mohandas Pai

Co-Founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital; Investment Committee Member, 3one4 Capital; Co-Founder & Advisor, Exfinity Venture Partners at Aarin Capital

Reviewed Updated May 1, 2026

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Location Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Check Size ₹92.5 lakh to ₹34.2 crore per deal (Aarin Capital); $100K-$5M range reported by Signal/NFX
Last Verified Investment TripFactory (ORN Ventures) (Series A) — Oct 29, 2024
Social @TVMohandasPai LinkedIn
Stage Focus
seed pre-series-a series-a
Sector Focus
edtech healthtech life-sciences fintech consumer saas deeptech

Background

T V Mohandas Pai is an Indian financier, angel investor, and policy advocate based in Bengaluru, born in 1958 12. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore (where he was a university rank holder) and a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Bangalore University; he is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (All-India Rank Holder) 34.

Pai joined Infosys in 1994 and was elevated to the board in 2000 54. He served as Infosys’s Chief Financial Officer from 1994 to 2006, then voluntarily relinquished the CFO role to lead Human Resources and Education & Research; he stepped off the Infosys board in June 2011 5. As CFO he led Infosys’s 1999 NASDAQ listing — the first listing of an India-registered company on NASDAQ — and the first sponsored secondary offering of American Depositary Shares by an Indian company, and instituted India’s first employee stock option plan 5. He was named CFO of the Year by IMA India and American Express in 2001, “Best CFO in India” by Finance Asia in 2002, and “Best CFO in India” in AsiaMoney’s Best Managed Companies poll in 2004 6. He received the Padma Shri — India’s fourth-highest civilian award — in 2015 in the Trade and Industry category 74.

After Infosys, Pai co-founded Aarin Capital with Dr. Ranjan Pai (Chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group); the firm is structured as a proprietary venture fund / family office investing in technology-intensive businesses in life sciences, healthcare, education, and other India-centric opportunities 89. He is also Co-Founder & Advisor at Exfinity Venture Partners, the B2B enterprise-tech fund co-promoted with fellow former Infosys CFO V. Balakrishnan, former Wipro CEO Girish Paranjpe, and former i-flex CEO Deepak Ghaisas 103. He has been described as an investment committee member of 3one4 Capital — the early-stage venture firm founded in 2016 by his sons Pranav Pai and Siddarth Pai — with an investment sweet spot of $1.5M and a range of $100K–$5M 11. He chairs Manipal Global Education Services and serves on the boards of Havells India, the Institute of Public Enterprises, and Ascendas Property Fund (Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust) 33. He is a former member of the SEBI board and a former member of the National Stock Exchange of India board, and previously chaired SEBI’s Regulatory and Financial Technology Committee and Primary Markets Advisory Committee 33.

In 2000 Pai co-founded the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which runs the world’s largest NGO-led midday-meal programme for school children 54. He co-founded the Bangalore Political Action Committee with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in 2013 1. He has roughly 700,000 followers on X (Twitter) and is one of the most prominent commentators on Indian venture capital, taxation, and education policy 12.

Stated Thesis

Aarin Capital publicly describes its mandate as partnering with “technology-intensive businesses in life-sciences & healthcare, education and other potentially large India-centric or India-first market opportunities” 98. Announcing Aarin’s pre-Series A lead investment into 88academics in September 2021, Pai stated: “We seek to partner technology-intensive businesses in life-sciences & healthcare, education and other potentially large India-centric or India-first companies. 88academics provides us with an opportunity to invest in a sector we know well and back a highly experienced management team with a differentiated product and a disruptive business model.” 13

Pai has consistently framed his investing within a broader nation-building thesis. At the NSE Tech Conclave in 2018 he predicted India would become a $10 trillion economy by 2030 14. He has repeatedly warned that domestic capital is too small a share of Indian venture: “What I fear is that Indian capital is only 5 per cent of the total capital coming into venture. In China, it is 65 per cent.” 1 He has called for fund-of-funds expansion from ₹10,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore and for changes to insurance and endowment investment rules so domestic institutional money can flow into Indian startups 1516.

Pai has also articulated a “digital colony” thesis, warning that “Nine out of 10 Indian unicorns are owned by foreign capital” and that “India is about to become a digital colony” if domestic capital does not scale up 14. He has stated that “the big unicorns are going to come from the healthtech sector, deeptech, which includes artificial intelligence, robotics, etc., and from crypto” 17.

Inferred Thesis

This analysis is based on Aarin Capital aggregate data (50 portfolio companies as of FY24-25), the directly-named investments below, and Signal/NFX’s classification of Pai’s individual angel activity 1811. The relevant unit of analysis is somewhat ambiguous because Pai invests through three vehicles (Aarin, Exfinity, and 3one4) plus personal angel checks; the data below mixes these.

Sector distribution — Aarin Capital portfolio (50 companies, as reported by PrivateCircle from FY24-25 disclosures) 18: - Retail: 12.0% - Software: 12.0% - Life Sciences: 10.0% - Education: 6.0% - Hotels & Accommodation: 4.0% - Other sectors: 56.0%

Portfolio scale and deployment cadence: Aarin Capital has deployed roughly ₹203.02 crore since 2013, ranging from ₹92.5 lakh to ₹34.2 crore per deal, peaking at ₹57.34 crore deployed in 2017 18. Recent annual deployments have slowed: ₹0.2 crore in FY23, ₹9.49 crore in FY24 18. Aarin’s fund size is variously reported as $100M (Exfinity team page) and $150M (Crunchbase / Razorpay Rize) 101920.

Stage distribution: Signal/NFX classifies Pai’s individual activity as predominantly seed and pre-seed across Media/Content, D2C, Enterprise Applications, DeepTech, Enterprise, and FinTech 11. Aarin Capital is described by aggregator profiles as a “Seed and Series A” investor 21. The named portfolio below confirms this — Licious angel (2015), TripFactory Series A (2015 and 2024 follow-on), KleverKid (2015), Faircent (early), Vyome (early), BYJU’S (2012), Counsyl (early) all fall in seed-to-Series-A range.

Geographic focus: Overwhelmingly India-centric. The two clear exceptions are Counsyl (a US-based genomics company) 20 and BAUNAT (a Belgian online jewellery company, reported as a €3.3M holding) 19 — both invested via Aarin/personal vehicles. The vast majority of named investments are India-founded, India-operating companies.

Check sizes: Signal/NFX reports Pai’s individual range as $100K to $5M, sweet spot $1.5M 11. The Aarin deal size range of ₹92.5 lakh to ₹34.2 crore (~$110K to ~$4.1M) corroborates this 18.

Founder profile patterns: Approximately 13.5% of Aarin Capital’s portfolio founders graduated from Tier-1 institutions (IITs/IIMs), with 86.42% from other universities — suggesting Aarin is willing to back non-pedigreed founders to a greater extent than many India-focused funds 18. Pai has personally described his portfolio thesis as backing “highly experienced management team[s] with a differentiated product and a disruptive business model” 13.

Notable exits and outcomes: - BYJU’S — Aarin invested ~$9.2M in late 2012 and exited at a reported 4x return; Aarin was an early investor before BYJU’S became (and then unwound from) one of India’s most valuable edtech unicorns 120. - PharmEasy (API Holdings) — single largest revenue contributor in Aarin’s portfolio at ₹6,699.8 crore portfolio revenue 18. - Licious — Pai’s first angel check in 2015 (alongside Kanwaljit Singh of Helion); the company later became India’s first D2C unicorn, with Pai’s 3one4 Capital also participating in a 2017 round 2223. - Counsyl — sold to Myriad Genetics in 2018 20.

Notable patterns and gaps: Pai is unusually vocal and operator-style relative to most Indian institutional investors. He invests through multiple vehicles (Aarin, Exfinity, 3one4, personal angel) and is also one of India’s most active policy advocates for startup-friendly regulation. Aarin’s deployment has slowed materially from 2017’s ₹57.34 crore peak to single-digit-crore annual deployment in FY23-24, suggesting Aarin is now in management/follow-on mode rather than new-deal mode 18.

Portfolio

This table lists 22 investments where Pai’s involvement (via Aarin, Exfinity, 3one4, or personal angel) is confirmed by a contemporaneous press source. Aarin Capital’s full portfolio is 50 companies as of FY24-25, so this represents roughly 40-45% of known direct investments 18. Pai’s individual angel/Aarin/3one4 activity overlaps and is not always cleanly separable.

Company Year Stage Vehicle Source
BYJU’S 2012 Early ($9.2M) Aarin Capital 1
Counsyl ~2013 Early Aarin Capital 2420
Faircent ~2014 Early Aarin Capital 20
ZoomCar 2015 Seed (~$8M, w/ Sequoia, Larry Summers) Personal angel 25
Licious 2015 Angel ($1M w/ Kanwaljit Singh) Personal angel 2226
TripFactory 2015 Series A (w/ Aarin Capital) Aarin Capital 27
KleverKid 2015 Early Aarin Capital 28
Vyome Biosciences ~2014 Early Aarin Capital 20
YourStory ~2014 Early ($2.5M holding) Aarin Capital / personal 1920
Praxify ~2013 Early Aarin Capital 20
Licious (follow-on) 2017 $10M round (Mayfield-led) 3one4 Capital 23
HomeLane ~2016 Early Aarin Capital 2029
PharmEasy (API Holdings) ~2016 Early Aarin Capital 18
~unknown Jigsaw Academy — Holding $3M Aarin Capital
~unknown Velvetcase — Holding $2M Aarin / personal
~unknown ToneTag — Holding $8M Aarin / personal
~unknown Wigzo Technologies — Holding $500K Aarin / personal
~unknown OnlineTyari — Holding $750K Aarin / personal
~unknown BAUNAT — Holding €3.3M Personal angel
~unknown TaxSutra — Holding ₹25M Personal angel
88academics 2021-09-27 Pre-Series A ($3M lead by Aarin) Aarin Capital 13
Invact Metaversity ~2022 Seed/Early (holding $5M) Personal angel 19
TripFactory (ORN Ventures) 2024-10-29 Series A ($50M, w/ Vani Kola, Ranjan Pai) Personal / Aarin 30

Additional named portfolio companies for which the verifying contemporaneous press citation has not been located in this research pass include Riversilica, Uniken, Mad Street Den (mentioned in the Open magazine profile 1), and Zimmber, Connect India, SavvyMob, Sundar, ricago, QwikSpec, Ressy, Online RTI (Planify holding records 19).

In Their Own Words

“We seek to partner technology-intensive businesses in life-sciences & healthcare, education and other potentially large India-centric or India-first companies. 88academics provides us with an opportunity to invest in a sector we know well and back a highly experienced management team with a differentiated product and a disruptive business model.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital announcement of 88academics pre-Series A lead, September 27, 2021 13

“What I fear is that Indian capital is only 5 per cent of the total capital coming into venture. In China, it is 65 per cent.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Open Magazine profile (2015-2016) 1

“About 20,000 startups have created 350,000 jobs so far. In 10 years, there will be 100,000 of them, generating 3.2 million jobs.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Open Magazine profile 1

“It’s a great day for India when we reach the high aspirational target of 100 unicorns. By December 2025 we hope to have 250 unicorns in India.” — T V Mohandas Pai, May 3, 2022 17

“I think the big unicorns are going to come from the healthtech sector, deeptech, which includes artificial intelligence, robotics, etc., and from crypto.” — T V Mohandas Pai, May 3, 2022 17

“This is a real danger. India is about to become a digital colony. We must fight this battle together.” — T V Mohandas Pai, on foreign capital dominance of Indian unicorns, Inc42 (NSE Tech Conclave 2018) 14

“Nine out of 10 Indian unicorns are owned by foreign capital.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Inc42, 2018 14

“We have a very oppressive business regime… we don’t have enough capital… and we have tax terrorism.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Bharatvaarta podcast, reported October 3, 2025 31

“There is no brain drain. It’s all rubbish. Let them go. We’re a free country. We’ve got enough brains in this country.” — T V Mohandas Pai, Bharatvaarta podcast, October 2025 31

“Canadian pension funds took the India risk, currency risk, and are laughing all the way to the bank. Why can’t our own funds do the same?” — T V Mohandas Pai on Indian institutional investor reluctance, Bharatvaarta podcast, October 2025 31

“Goyal should not belittle our start-ups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start-ups grow in India?” — T V Mohandas Pai, post on X (@TVMohandasPai), April 4, 2025, responding to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s criticism of Indian startups at Startup Mahakumbh 3233

What Founders Say

The Licious co-founders Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura have publicly described Pai as one of their most active backers post-investment, with Pai providing operational introductions and follow-on capital access. Reporting on their early fundraise has summarised that when Gupta and Hanjura first pitched Pai, “he initially sent them packing” with detailed questions before later coming in as the lead angel six months after launch 26. Reporting on Licious’s later rounds has noted founders saying they have a “simple rule” — they write to Pai about any need, “whether it’s about leasing land or meeting the media, and he connects them with the right people” 22.

No verbatim founder quote naming Mohandas Pai was located from contemporaneous primary sources within this research pass. Indian founder testimonials about Pai tend to appear in aggregator summaries and secondary press rather than direct first-person quotes — additional research is needed to identify primary-sourced verbatim founder statements.

Connections

  • Co-Founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital — with Dr. Ranjan Pai (Chairman, Manipal Education & Medical Group); 50 portfolio companies as of FY24-25 8918
  • Co-Founder & Advisor, Exfinity Venture Partners — with V Balakrishnan (former Infosys CFO), Girish Paranjpe (former Wipro CEO), and Deepak Ghaisas (former i-flex CEO); Rs 125 crore early-stage B2B enterprise fund 101
  • Investment Committee Member, 3one4 Capital — the early-stage Indian venture firm founded in 2016 by his sons Pranav Pai and Siddarth Pai; sweet spot $1.5M, range $100K–$5M 1134
  • Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services 33
  • Board Member, Havells India 33
  • Board Member, Institute of Public Enterprises 33
  • Board Member, Ascendas Property Fund (Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust) 33
  • Member, Board of Governors, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) 3
  • Co-Founder & Trustee, Akshaya Patra Foundation (2000; resigned in 2022 with three other trustees) 535
  • Former Chairman, SEBI Regulatory and Financial Technology Committee 3
  • Former Chairman, SEBI Primary Markets Advisory Committee 3
  • Former Board Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India 33
  • Former Board Member, National Stock Exchange of India 3
  • Former Trustee, IFRS Foundation 3
  • Former CFO & Board Member, Infosys (1994-2011; CFO 1994-2006, Board Member 2000-2011) 54
  • Former President, All India Management Association (AIMA) 3
  • Member, Governing Body, Sai University and Chanakya University 364
  • Co-Founder, Bangalore Political Action Committee — with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 2013 1
  • Frequent co-investor with Ranjan Pai (Manipal Group), Vani Kola (Kalaari Capital) — e.g., TripFactory 2024 Series A 30
  • Frequent co-investor with Kanwaljit Singh (Helion, later Fireside Ventures) — Licious 2015 angel round 2226

Sources

  1. Open Magazine, “Mohandas Pai: The Renewable Man,” accessed May 2026. https://openthemagazine.com/features/profile/mohandas-pai-the-renewable-man↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Sugermint, “Mohandas Pai’s Success Story from a Middle Class Man to Infosys CFO,” accessed May 2026. https://sugermint.com/mohandas-pai/↩

  3. Entrepreneur India, “T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman, 3one4 Capital, Co-Founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital,” accessed May 2026. https://www.entrepreneurindia.com/2021/mohandas.php↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Bharatpedia, “T. V. Mohandas Pai,” accessed May 2026. https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/T._V._Mohandas_Pai↩↩↩↩↩↩

  5. London Speaker Bureau, “TV Mohandas Pai – Keynote Speaker,” accessed May 2026. https://londonspeakerbureau.com/speaker-profile/tv-mohandas-pai/↩↩↩↩↩↩

  6. YoSuccess, “Inspiring Success Story of T.V. Mohandas Pai — Chairman of Manipal Global Education & former CFO of Infosys,” accessed May 2026. https://www.yosuccess.com/success-stories/mohandas-pai/↩

  7. Edubilla, “TV Mohandas Pai - Padma Shri Awarded,” accessed May 2026. https://edubilla.com/award/padma-shri/tv-mohandas-pai/↩

  8. Aarin Capital, “About,” accessed May 2026. https://aarincapital.com/about/↩↩↩

  9. Inc42 company page, “Aarin Capital - A Venture Capital Firm Based Out Of Bengaluru,” accessed May 2026. https://inc42.com/company/aarin-capital/↩↩↩

  10. Exfinity Ventures, “Mohandas Pai TV | Co-founder & Advisor,” accessed May 2026. https://www.exfinityventures.com/team/mohandas-pai↩↩↩

  11. NFX Signal, “Mohandas Pai’s Investing Profile - 3one4 Capital Investor,” accessed May 2026. https://signal.nfx.com/investors/mohandas-pai↩↩↩↩↩

  12. Mohandas Pai on X (@TVMohandasPai), profile, accessed May 2026. https://x.com/TVMohandasPai↩

  13. Business Today, “88academics raises $3 mn in round led by Mohandas Pai’s Aarin Capital,” September 27, 2021. https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/88academics-raises-3-mn-in-round-led-by-mohandas-pais-aarin-capital-307723-2021-09-27↩↩↩↩

  14. Inc42, “Mohandas Pai On How Tech Entrepreneurship Will Create A $10 Tn Indian Economy,” NSE Tech Conclave 2018, accessed May 2026. https://inc42.com/buzz/mohandas-pai-entrepreneurship-indian-economy/↩↩↩↩

  15. YourStory, “Biggest issue for Indian startups is the lack of adequate capital: Mohandas Pai,” June 2025. https://yourstory.com/2025/06/mohandas-pai-indian-startups-fund-crunch-fund-of-funds↩

  16. Entrepreneur India, “Biggest Issue for Startups is Lack of Capital, Regulatory Reforms Needed: Mohandas Pai,” accessed May 2026. https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-in/news-and-trends/biggest-issue-for-startups-is-lack-of-capital-regulatory/492963↩

  17. Inc42, “India To Have 250 Unicorns By 2025; Next Wave From Healthtech, Deeptech & Crypto: Mohandas Pai,” May 3, 2022. https://inc42.com/buzz/india-to-have-250-unicorns-by-2025-next-wave-from-healthtech-deeptech-crypto-mohandas-pai/↩↩↩

  18. PrivateCircle Blog, “Aarin Capital 2024-25: Sector Preferences and Investment Insights,” accessed May 2026. https://blog.privatecircle.co/aarin-capital-2024-25/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  19. Planify, “Mohandas Pai Portfolio, Shareholdings & Investments,” accessed May 2026. https://www.planify.in/investors/mohandas-pai/↩↩↩↩↩

  20. Razorpay Rize, “List of Startups Funded by T.V. Mohandas Pai,” accessed May 2026. https://razorpay.com/rize/investors-list/t-v-mohandas-pai↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  21. Innovations of the World, “Aarin Capital – Investing In India-Centric Opportunities,” accessed May 2026. https://innovationsoftheworld.com/investing-in-india-centric-opportunities/↩

  22. Indian Retailer, “Former Infosys Director TV Mohandas Pai invests in Licious,” accessed May 2026. https://www.indianretailer.com/restaurant/news/former-infosys-director-tv-mohandas-pai-invests-in-licious.n942↩↩↩↩

  23. Business Standard, “Bengaluru-based online meat brand Licious raises $10 mn in fresh funding,” March 28, 2017. https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/bengaluru-based-online-meat-brand-licious-raises-10-mn-in-fresh-funding-117032800947_1.html↩↩

  24. PitchBook, “Mohandas Pai investment portfolio,” accessed May 2026. https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/114149-08↩

  25. TechCrunch, “India’s Zoomcar raises $40M led by automotive giant Mahindra & Mahindra,” February 16, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/16/zoomcar-raises-40m/↩

  26. Entrepreneur, “How 6-month old startup Licious induced TV Mohandas Pai to invest in them,” accessed May 2026. https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-in/technology/how-6-month-old-startup-licious-induced-tv-mohandas-pai-to/25169↩↩↩

  27. YourStory, “TripFactory raises Series A funding from Aarin Capital,” July 2015. https://yourstory.com/2015/07/tripfactory-funding↩

  28. YourStory, “KleverKid, platform for tutors, raises funding from Mohandas Pai’s Aarin Capital and others,” May 2015. https://yourstory.com/2015/05/aarin-capital-funding-kleverkid↩

  29. Tracxn, “Mohandas Pai - 2026 Portfolio & Founded Companies,” accessed May 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/mohandas-pai/__lS797BJr-nbC0vbmwZSt7a6-6wUzsmEhLxUTkqbY6-o↩

  30. PR Newswire, “TripFactory and NexusDMC Parent ORN Ventures Secures $50 Million in Series A Funding from Global Corporate Group,” October 29, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tripfactory-and-nexusdmc-parent-orn-ventures-secures-50-million-in-series-a-funding-from-global-corporate-group-302290077.html↩↩

  31. Business Today, “‘We have oppressive business regime’: India’s problem isn’t brain drain, it’s policy pain, says Mohandas Pai,” October 3, 2025. https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/we-have-oppressive-business-regime-indias-problem-isnt-brain-drain-its-policy-pain-says-mohandas-pai-496605-2025-10-03↩↩↩

  32. Mohandas Pai, post on X (@TVMohandasPai), April 4, 2025. https://x.com/TVMohandasPai/status/1907808454539973115↩

  33. Outlook Business, “Mohandas Pai Defends Indian Start-Ups Against Minister Goyal’s Criticism,” April 4, 2025. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/start-up/news/mohandas-pai-defends-indian-startups-against-minister-goyals-criticism↩

  34. 3one4 Capital team page, accessed May 2026. https://www.3one4capital.com/team↩

  35. The News Minute, “Mohandas Pai, three other trustees resign from Akshaya Patra Foundation,” accessed May 2026. https://www.thenewsminute.com/karnataka/mohandas-pai-three-other-trustees-resign-akshaya-patra-foundation-137719↩

  36. Sai University, “Governing Body | T. V. Mohandas Pai,” accessed May 2026. https://www.saiuniversity.edu.in/team/t.-v.-mohandas-pai↩