Rehan Yar Khan

Founder & Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners at Orios Venture Partners

Reviewed Updated May 1, 2026

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Location Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Check Size Seed avg ~$1.37M, Series A avg ~$6.03M (Orios fund-level); Select Fund follow-on cheques $4M-$8M
Last Verified Investment Truva ($9M (co-led with Stellaris)) — Jan 15, 2026
Stage Focus

Background

Rehan Yar Khan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Orios Venture Partners, a Mumbai-based early-stage technology venture capital firm he established in November 2013 122. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and a Master’s from Columbia Business School, New York 1.

Before becoming a full-time investor, Khan was a serial entrepreneur with three businesses to his name, including two earlier B2B ventures focused on sales, inventory and working capital management, and Flora2000, an online flower-delivery and gifting business he founded in 2004 13. He began making angel investments in 2008 and became one of the most active individual angel investors in India during the 2008-2013 period 45. His earliest angel cheque was into Druva (2008), which he discovered on an online forum and where he later served as a board member for many years 67.

Khan was one of three angels who wrote Ola Cabs’ first cheque in April 2011, contributing roughly ₹1 crore (~$160,000) alongside Anupam Mittal of People Group and others; he subsequently joined Ola’s board as an observer 89. Beyond Ola and Druva, his personal angel portfolio of 20+ deals included Unbxd, Pescafresh, FabAlley, Box8, WebEngage, Hashcube, VuClip, TaxSpanner (exited), Jigsee (exited), Exclusively (exited) and Pipemonk (exited) 310.

He founded Orios Venture Partners Fund I in 2013-2014 (final close at INR 300 crore in 2015) to professionalize and scale what he had been doing as an angel 113. Orios subsequently launched Fund II (2018, registered with SEBI as IN/AIF1/15-16/0164), Orios Select Fund I (June 2021, final close $30 million, designed for follow-on cheques of $4M-$8M into existing portfolio companies), and Orios Venture Partners Fund III (a Cat-II AIF; final close at $30 million in June 2021 per DealStreetAsia, though Khan separately pursued a larger third growth fund whose closure was repeatedly postponed in 2024-2025) 2121314. Fund IV closed in 2025 below its initial target, with a key government Limited Partner onboarded to support the fund 1514. Orios is registered with SEBI across four AIFs (Fund I, Fund II, Select Fund I, Fund III) 2.

In September 2023 Managing Partners Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri — both of whom had joined Orios in 2018 — stepped down, leaving Khan as the sole Managing Partner; CFO and COO Gaurav Bindal subsequently departed as well 161718. As of 2026, Orios’s senior team comprises Khan, Senior Partner Madhav Tandan, and Partner Sukhmani Bedi 2.

Khan is the Founder of the Indian Angel Network’s Mumbai Chapter, Co-Founder of Harvard Angels India, a TiE Charter Member, and a former Executive Council member of the Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) 1. He is the co-author, with Bob Miglani, of Make Your Own Luck: How to Increase Your Odds of Success in Sales, Startups, Corporate Career and Life (Penguin Random House, 2019) 19. He has roughly 1 unicorn IPO outcome (ixigo) plus two further public-market exits (MobiKwik, Nazara) in the Orios portfolio, and personally backed two unicorns as an angel (Ola, Druva) 103.

Stated Thesis

Orios publicly describes its mandate as backing “innovators who are working in unchartered territories, on ideas that have the potential to disrupt the traditional ecosystem,” with a hands-on “#Misfits Program” of founder-to-founder support; the firm targets 10-12 investments per year across B2C, B2B, software and hardware companies targeting India 2. Khan has framed Orios’s founding rationale in personal terms: “I saw an opportunity to fill the gap and provide funds at the seed level [so] I established the fund,” he told Entrepreneur India in November 2019, adding “I thought that the ecosystem needed a fund which has been an entrepreneur previously” 4.

Khan has explicitly described the kind of founder Orios looks for using the firm’s “Misfits” framing — its public portfolio page is titled “Portfolio | #BackingMisfits” — and the firm’s marketing emphasizes outlier founders who don’t fit conventional moulds 202. On portfolio construction, Khan has repeatedly emphasised market creation over disruption and the centrality of timing.

Khan has framed his mission around employment generation: “I want to work for an idea which can bring about a change in the employment situation of India” 4. And, on government policy: “Government needs to understand the number of jobs created by start-ups and the amount of wealth which is used for further investment” 4.

Inferred Thesis

This analysis is based on Orios Venture Partners’ aggregated portfolio (76 companies across 13 years per Tracxn, as of March 2026) plus Khan’s personal pre-Orios angel activity (20 named investments per Tracxn) 103. Khan invests through Orios as well as historically through his personal angel book; this section treats Orios fund-level activity as the primary signal because Khan is the sole Managing Partner and most personal-angel activity predates the 2013 Orios founding.

Stage distribution (Orios Venture Partners, n=72 first-round and follow-on rounds per Tracxn): 10 - Seed: 46 investments (~61% of stage-classified rounds), average round size $1.37M - Series A: 18 investments (~24%), average round size $6.03M - Series B and later: 7 investments (~9%), with at least 4 Series E follow-ons averaging $194M reflecting Orios’s pre-IPO Select Fund participation - This is consistent with Khan’s self-description as a seed investor — roughly 85% of stage-classified Orios rounds are seed or Series A first cheques 10.

Sector distribution (Orios first-round investments per Tracxn): 10 - Consumer: 35 companies - Enterprise Applications: 21 - Retail: 17 - FinTech: 14 - Vertical SaaS: 10 - (Categories overlap; companies are classified under multiple sectors.) The named portfolio confirms heavy concentration in consumer marketplaces and D2C (Country Delight, Box8, DealShare, FarMart, WickedGud), mobility/EV (Ola via personal angel, Battery Smart, GoMechanic), fintech (MobiKwik, ZipLoan, Karbon), healthtech (PharmEasy, HexaHealth, Kenko Beato), gaming (Nazara, Zupee), and SaaS/data infra (Druva via personal angel, Unbxd via personal angel, NowPurchase) 3102010.

Orios’s own Fund I portfolio allocation as published in 2024 was: 27.07% marketplaces, 17.7% D2C, 14.45% healthtech, with the balance spread across other sectors 11.

Geographic focus: Overwhelmingly India. Tracxn classifies 70 of 76 Orios portfolio companies (~92%) as India-based, with 3 in the United States 10. Khan’s personal angel book is similarly India-centric, with Druva (Santa Clara) the principal US exception 36.

Check sizes: Orios’s average seed cheque is $1.37M and average Series A is $6.03M 10. Orios Select Fund I (the follow-on vehicle, $30M closed June 2021) writes cheques of $4M to $8M into existing portfolio companies 13.

Deal-flow and selectivity: Khan reported in early 2024 that Orios screens “4,000-5,000 companies annually to invest in approximately 10” 21.

Notable exits and outcomes: - Country Delight (subscription dairy/D2C grocery): Orios invested in 2017 and reported a 45X partial exit in February 2024, while retaining the majority of its Fund I stake 21. - Battery Smart (EV battery-swapping): Orios invested in 2020 (within a year of inception) and participated in a $25M Series B in 2022; reported a 29X partial exit in June 2024 via Battery Smart’s $65M LeapFrog-led Series B 22. - ixigo (travel; OTA): Orios was an early backer; IPO on BSE/NSE; reported market cap ~$432M 10. - MobiKwik (fintech; payments): Orios was an early investor; IPO on BSE/NSE in December 2024; reported market cap $254M at listing 10. - Nazara Technologies (gaming/esports): Orios was a pre-IPO investor; listed on Indian public markets 1010. - Druva (personal angel, 2008): Cloud data-protection unicorn that has raised ~$475M; Khan served as board member 3623. - Ola Cabs (personal angel, 2011): First-cheque angel; unicorn ride-sharing platform that has raised ~$3.84B 389. - PharmEasy / API Holdings: Orios was an early backer; PharmEasy was the single largest contributor to Fund I returns when Orios returned 1X (INR 300 crore) of Fund I to LPs in January 2024 11.

Founder profile patterns: Khan has consistently positioned Orios around “Misfit” or non-conventional founders 202. The pre-Orios angel pattern (Druva via online forum, Ola via cold contact through Anupam Mittal) suggests Khan is unusually willing to back founders he doesn’t know through warm intros — he tweeted in 2019 that “Druva was my 1st startup investment. I had discovered them on an online forum and made the investment as way to ‘help’ the guys out as I loved their vision” 7.

Co-investor patterns: Across the recent active portfolio, Orios frequently co-invests with Stellaris Venture Partners (Truva), 3one4 Capital (HexaHealth), Sequoia/Peak XV (Druva historically), Matrix Partners India / Z47, Tiger Global (Zo Rooms), Beenext, and Indian Angel Network (Druva era) 102425.

Notable patterns and gaps: Khan publicly emphasises seed-stage “Misfit” founders, and the data confirm this — 61% of stage-classified Orios cheques are seed. However, the firm’s largest realised wins (PharmEasy, ixigo, MobiKwik, Nazara, Country Delight, Battery Smart) skew heavily consumer-internet and consumer-fintech — older themes than the broader Indian VC pivot toward deeptech/AI. Orios’s 2024-2026 deal flow (Truva proptech, NowPurchase B2B manufacturing, ScrapUncle circular-economy, WickedGud D2C foods, HexaHealth healthtech) suggests continued concentration in consumer, marketplace and India-domestic-demand themes rather than a deeptech rotation 102426. The reported postponement of Fund III’s larger close and below-target Fund IV close in 2025 indicate that fundraising has been more difficult for Orios in the post-2022 environment than in its 2014-2021 heyday 1427.

Portfolio

This table lists 28 investments where Khan’s involvement (via Orios fund vehicles or personal angel) is confirmed by Orios’s own materials and/or contemporaneous press. Orios’s full portfolio is 76 companies as of March 2026, so the table covers roughly 30-35% of named direct investments; Khan’s personal pre-Orios angel portfolio of ~20 deals is also partially captured 103. Where stage and lead are uncertain, the cell is left empty per Seedlist conventions.

Company Year Stage Vehicle Source
Druva 2008 Angel (IAN; board seat) Personal angel 6237
TaxSpanner 2007 Angel (exited 2022) Personal angel 3
Jigsee 2008 Angel (exited 2013, acquisition) Personal angel 3
Exclusively 2010 Angel (exited 2015, acquisition) Personal angel 3
Ola Cabs 2011 First-cheque angel (~₹1 Cr round, w/ Anupam Mittal) Personal angel 89
Pipemonk 2013 Angel (exited 2017, acquisition) Personal angel 3
FabAlley 2013-11 Seed ($265K) Personal angel 3
Pescafresh 2014-02 Seed ($142K) Personal angel 3
Zostel 2014-05 Seed Orios Fund I 28
ixigo ~2014 Early Orios Fund I 1011
MobiKwik ~2014 Early Orios Fund I 1011
CarDekho (GirnarSoft) ~2014 Early Orios Fund I 10
SnapLion 2014-09 Seed Personal angel 3
Zo Rooms 2015 Seed (w/ Tiger Global) Orios Fund I 29
Nazara Technologies ~2015 Early (pre-IPO) Orios Fund I 10
Pescafresh (follow-on) 2016-05 Seed ($177K) Personal angel 3
PharmEasy / API Holdings ~2016 Early Orios Fund I 11
Country Delight 2017 Seed (45X partial exit Feb 2024) Orios Fund I 21
GoMechanic ~2018 Early Orios Fund II 16
~unknown Vedantu Early Orios Fund I
~unknown Zupee Early Orios
~unknown Karbon Early Orios Fund I
Battery Smart 2020 Seed (29X partial exit Jun 2024) Orios 22
Battery Smart (follow-on) 2022 Series B ($25M of $65M round) Orios Select Fund 22
~unknown Kenko Beato Early Orios
~unknown Nxtwave Early Orios
~unknown Werize Early Orios
~unknown Varaha Early Orios
~unknown Hypd Early Orios
HexaHealth 2025-04-30 Series A ($12M, led w/ 3one4 Capital) Orios 10
WickedGud 2025-12-17 ₹20 Cr round Orios 10
ScrapUncle 2026-01-28 Seed Orios 10
Truva 2026-01-15 $9M (co-led w/ Stellaris Venture Partners) Orios 2425
~unknown NowPurchase Follow-on (most recent follow-on) Orios

Additional Orios portfolio names from Tracxn and Orios’s own portfolio page for which a verifying contemporaneous press citation has not been located in this research pass include FarMart, DealShare, Box8, WebEngage, Hashcube, VuClip, Faby Alley, CollegeSearch, Daily Hunt, Freshworks, Quikr, ZestMoney, Pretto, Mishry, MasterChow, and others listed on the Orios “Pre-Orios” and exit pages 20103.

In Their Own Words

“Druva was my 1st startup investment. I had discovered them on an online forum and made the investment as way to ‘help’ the guys out as I loved their vision. I was their board member for many years and it was always a pleasure.” — Rehan Yar Khan on X (@rehanyarkhan), June 20, 2019 7

“Druva signals the fact that world-class software product companies are starting to emerge from India.” — Rehan Yar Khan (Indian Angel Network), Druva Series A announcement, April 15, 2010 23

“I saw an opportunity to fill the gap and provide funds at the seed level [so] I established the fund.” — Rehan Yar Khan, Entrepreneur India interview, November 28, 2019 4

“I thought that the ecosystem needed a fund which has been an entrepreneur previously.” — Rehan Yar Khan, Entrepreneur India, November 28, 2019 4

“I invested in a lot of companies and later sold them to other companies and that is how I have built my portfolio.” — Rehan Yar Khan on his pre-Orios angel approach, Entrepreneur India, November 28, 2019 4

“I want to work for an idea which can bring about a change in the employment situation of India.” — Rehan Yar Khan, Entrepreneur India, November 28, 2019 4

“Government needs to understand the number of jobs created by start-ups and the amount of wealth which is used for further investment.” — Rehan Yar Khan, Entrepreneur India, November 28, 2019 4

“We believe exceptional founders in large spaces can build special companies. With Country Delight, it has been an honour and great learning experience to watch Chakradhar and Nitin build the company, from a single product to over 140 products.” — Rehan Yar Khan, Inc42 reporting on Orios’s 45X Country Delight partial exit, February 7, 2024 21

“Early-stage funds are a long journey as they grow along with the companies they invest in.” — Rehan Yar Khan on Fund I returning 1X (INR 300 crore) to LPs, Inc42, January 25, 2024 11

“We are glad to have returned 1X of the Fund, which means the corpus invested with us is back.” — Rehan Yar Khan on Fund I, Inc42, January 25, 2024 11

“2023 was one of those years where everything that could go wrong, went wrong. As humans, we never want things to go wrong, but some things are beyond our control.” — Rehan Yar Khan, The CapTable interview, December 2, 2024 27

What Founders Say

No independently sourced verbatim founder testimonials about Rehan Yar Khan were located in this research pass that meet Seedlist’s standards (direct first-person quotes from portfolio founders about their actual working relationship with him, attributable to a contemporaneous primary source). Public reporting on Ola’s seed round documents that Khan was the assembler of the first-cheque angel syndicate and joined Ola’s board as an observer 89, and the Druva PR Newswire archive confirms his board service through Druva’s Series A in April 2010 236. Additional dedicated research — including podcast appearances of Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola), Jaspreet Singh (Druva), Dhruvil Sanghvi (LogiNext), Chakradhar Gade (Country Delight), and Pulkit Khurana (Battery Smart) — would be required to substantiate this section with sourced verbatim founder quotes.

Connections

  • Founder & Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners — Mumbai-based early-stage VC; 76 portfolio companies as of March 2026; 3 unicorns (CarDekho/GirnarSOFT, API Holdings/PharmEasy) and 3 IPOs (MobiKwik, ixigo, Nazara) 2210
  • Former Board Observer, Ola Cabs (ANI Technologies) — joined April 2011 as first-cheque angel alongside Anupam Mittal and others 89
  • Former Board Member, Druva — joined ~2008 as IAN/personal angel; served through Series A in April 2010 6237
  • Founder, Indian Angel Network (IAN) Mumbai Chapter 1
  • Co-Founder, Harvard Angels India 1
  • Former Executive Council Member, Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) 1
  • TiE Charter Member 1
  • Co-Author, Make Your Own Luck: How to Increase Your Odds of Success in Sales, Startups, Corporate Career and Life, with Bob Miglani (Penguin Random House, 2019) 19
  • Founder, Flora2000 (2004) — online flower-delivery/gifting business 13
  • Founder, two B2B ventures (pre-Orios; sales, inventory, and working capital management software) 1
  • Past colleagues at Orios: Anup Jain (Managing Partner 2018-2023; ex-P&G, Yum Restaurants, Oriflame, Whirlpool) and Rajeev Suri (Managing Partner 2018-2023; ex-Jio, Viu, Infosys), both departed September 2023; current senior team Madhav Tandan (Senior Partner) and Sukhmani Bedi (Partner) 162
  • Government LP relationship with a (publicly unnamed) Indian government Limited Partner for Orios Fund IV (2025 close) 1415
  • Frequent co-investor: Stellaris Venture Partners (Truva 2026), 3one4 Capital (HexaHealth 2025), Tiger Global (Zo Rooms 2015), Anupam Mittal/People Group (Ola 2011), Sequoia/Peak XV (Druva era), Indian Angel Network (Druva era) 8102429

Sources


  1. Orios Venture Partners, “Rehan Yar Khan,” accessed May 2026. https://www.oriosvp.com/rehan-yar-khan

  2. Orios Venture Partners homepage, accessed May 2026. https://www.oriosvp.com/

  3. Tracxn, “Rehan Khan — 2025 Portfolio, Founded Companies & Board Memberships,” accessed May 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/rehan-yar-khan/__vTg9XtPvnnEJ3cbvxPqlXcJSL0Bxtl6R35TgfNNp_fk

  4. Entrepreneur India, “Orios Venture Partners’ Rehan Yar Khan Banks on Ideas,” November 28, 2019. https://india.entrepreneur.com/finance/orios-venture-partners-rehan-yar-khan-banks-on-ideas/343

  5. YourStory, “Into the mind of an Indian Angel Investor: With Rehan Yar Khan,” December 2012. https://yourstory.com/2012/12/into-the-mind-of-an-indian-angel-investor-with-rehan-yar-khan

  6. PR Newswire, “Druva Raises Series-A From Sequoia Capital,” April 7, 2010. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/druva-raises-series-a-from-sequoia-capital-90095887.html

  7. Rehan Yar Khan on X (@rehanyarkhan), tweet on Druva as his first startup investment, June 20, 2019. https://x.com/rehanyarkhan/status/1141740429798330368

  8. YourStory, “Car rental portal Olacabs.com receives first round of angel funding from Anupam Mittal & Rehan yar Khan,” April 2011. https://yourstory.com/2011/04/car-rental-portal-olacabs-com-receives-first-round-of-angel-funding-from-anupam-mittal-a-rehan-yar-khan

  9. Quartz India, “One of India’s biggest startups offers a valuable lesson in how to attract angel investors,” accessed May 2026. https://qz.com/india/1656277/ola-angel-investors-zishaan-hayath-rehan-yar-khan-and-anupam-mittal-look-back

  10. Tracxn, “Orios Venture Partners — 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends,” accessed May 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/oriosventurepartners/__gJmSVYWeAZQoDSMiQwXtUaDEy5zF8oeyoR_Z1WHtkwA

  11. Inc42, “PharmEasy Backer Orios Venture Returns INR 300 Cr To Investors From Fund I,” January 25, 2024. https://inc42.com/buzz/pharmeasy-backer-orios-venture-returns-inr-300-cr-to-investors-from-fund-i/

  12. Entrackr, “Orios Venture makes final close of its Select Fund I at $30 Mn,” June 25, 2021. https://entrackr.com/2021/06/orios-venture-makes-final-close-of-its-select-fund-i-at-30-mn/

  13. DealStreetAsia, “Indian VC firm Orios Venture Partners closes third fund at $30m,” June 25, 2021. https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/orios-venture-partners-24758

  14. Inc42, “Orios Venture Partners Postpones Closure Of Third Fund For Second Time,” accessed May 2026. https://inc42.com/buzz/orios-venture-partners-postpones-closure-of-third-fund-for-second-time/

  15. Medial, “Orios closes fourth fund below target, onboards key government LP,” April 24, 2025. https://medial.app/news/orios-closes-fourth-fund-below-target-onboards-key-government-lp-1289fc560ebec

  16. Inc42, “Orios Sees Exit Of Two Managing Partners; Anup Jain, Rajeev Suri Step Down,” September 18, 2023. https://inc42.com/buzz/orios-exit-two-managing-partners-anup-jain-rajeev-suri-step-down/

  17. Inc42, “Amid Wave Of Top-Level Exits At Orios, CFO & COO Gaurav Bindal Calls It Quits,” accessed May 2026. https://inc42.com/buzz/amid-wave-of-top-level-exits-at-orios-cfo-coo-gaurav-bindal-calls-it-quits/

  18. The Morning Context, “String of top exits signals trouble at Rehan Yar Khan’s Orios Venture Partners,” accessed May 2026. https://themorningcontext.com/internet/string-of-top-exits-signals-trouble-at-rehan-yar-khans-orios-venture-partners

  19. Goodreads, “Rehan Yar Khan (of Make Your Own Luck),” accessed May 2026. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19698179.Rehan_Yar_Khan

  20. Orios Venture Partners, “Portfolio | #BackingMisfits,” accessed May 2026. https://www.oriosvp.com/portfolio

  21. Inc42, “Orios Scores 45X Returns In Partial Exit From Country Delight,” February 7, 2024. https://inc42.com/buzz/orios-scores-45x-returns-in-partial-exit-from-country-delight/

  22. Inc42, “Orios Venture Partners Partially Exits Battery Smart With 29X Returns,” June 11, 2024. https://inc42.com/buzz/orios-venture-partners-partially-exits-battery-smart-with-29x-returns/

  23. Newswire, “Druva Raises Series A from Sequoia Capital & Indian Angel Network,” April 15, 2010. https://www.newswire.com/news/druva-raises-series-a-from-sequoia-capital-indian-angel-network-185325

  24. YourStory, “Truva raises $9M in fresh capital from Stellaris, Orios Ventures and others,” January 2026. https://yourstory.com/2026/01/truva-raises-9m-fresh-funding-stellaris-orios-ventures

  25. StartupNews.fyi, “Proptech startup Truva raises $9 million from Stellaris and Orios Venture Partners,” January 15, 2026. https://startupnews.fyi/2026/01/15/proptech-startup-truva-raises-9-million-from-stellaris-and-orios-venture-partners/

  26. Outlook Business, “Proptech Start-up Truva Raises $9 Mn From Stellaris, Orios, Others,” accessed May 2026. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/news/proptech-start-up-truva-raises-9-mn-from-stellaris-orios-others

  27. The CapTable, “Rehan Yar Khan on the recent departures at Orios, fund performance, the VC’s strategy in India and more,” December 2, 2024. https://the-captable.com/2024/12/rehan-yar-khan-orios-venture-partners/

  28. Tracxn, “Zostel — Company Profile, Team, Funding,” accessed May 2026 (first funding round May 9, 2014; Series A July 15, 2015). https://tracxn.com/d/companies/zostel/__vraBwItYfDSwKTYge41ZScbwTTwJ4bn7jPaYgNl9HM8

  29. Tracxn, “Zo Rooms — Company Profile, Funding,” accessed May 2026 (Tiger Global + Orios participation; ~$35M July 2015). https://tracxn.com/d/companies/zo-rooms/__CQh16txfdHej8wxcN_H3Kjf9ArJ-8uu8OK4LGG3L3GQ