A Founder's Guide to 21 VC Champions (and How to Pitch Them)
The Real Front Door to Venture Capital
You've sent 50 cold emails to the main General Partners, and 49 went unread. You're pitching the wrong person. The real entry point to a top-tier fund isn't the General Partner; it's the hungry Associate or Principal who finds you, builds the investment memo, and champions your deal in the Investment Committee. This "first check" of approval is the only one that matters. This playbook contains 21 of these key "VC Champions", the accessible, active Partners and Principals along with the "how-to" guide on what they're hunting for and how they want to be pitched.
The "First Check" List: 21 VC Champions
Rising Star VC (Name) | Fund & Role | Their Personal Thesis (What they actually hunt for) | Key Investments | The 'First Check' Playbook (How to Pitch Them) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Abhishek Srivastava | General Partner @ Kae Capital | Enterprise Tech/SaaS & B2B Commerce. | RecommerceX, Mylo, Steradian | Approach via official website. Ops background (Deloitte, TCS) = pitch must be data-heavy, no-fluff. |
Marmik Mankodi | Investment Team @ Blume Ventures | Consumer (apps, services, games) & Education. | Lightfury Games, STAGE, Virohan | Email: marmik@blume.vc. Ex-D2C operator (Man Matters). Pitch your acquisition & retention metrics, not just vision. |
Richard Pinto | Principal @ 3one4 Capital | Financial due diligence, deal evaluation, & capital efficiency. | Manages 70+ portfolio companies. | Approach via official website. Big Four audit background. Pitch must be 100% data-driven; show clean financials. |
Rishab Malik | Partner @ Jungle Ventures | SEA/India cross-border tech, marketplaces, & infrastructure. | Co-founder Droom, GSF India (90+ startups) | Approach via official website or LinkedIn. Ex-founder. Pitch strong GTM and product strategy, not just finance. |
Rishabh Katiyar | Principal @ Info Edge Ventures | AI, SaaS, & B2B/B2C E-commerce. | Aftershoot AI, Shipsy, Geniemode | Email: rishabh@infoedgeventures.com. He's on the founding team; reach out directly. |
Aditya Singh | Co-founder @ All In Capital | Pre-seed/Seed founders building for India & the world. | 50+ angel investments. (Ex-founder Bookmyforex) | Pitch via: superdm.com/as. He is an ex-founder; pitch your personal story and marketplace insights. |
Debansh Sahoo | Investment Professional @ Ankur Capital | Climate, Agri, FinTech, Health, EdTech, Gen AI. | Actively investing from $150M Fund III. | Email: debansh@ankurcapital.com. He's Delhi-based, focusing on Seed to Pre-Series A. |
Shivam Rajvanshi | Principal @ Together Fund | Early-stage AI (Enterprise, Prosumer, Consumer). US/India corridor. | Composio, Confido, Spry | Approach via official website. Ex-consultant; pitch must be bold but grounded in first principles. |
Shruti Srivastava | Investment Director @ Avaana Capital | Climate Tech, Sustainability, Circular Economy, & Deep Tech (Bio/Materials). | Backs "pioneering" climate & impact tech. | Approach via official website. IIT Madras alum; pitch must be deep on "transformational technology." |
Manvitha Janagam | Senior Principal @ Verlinvest | Growth-stage digital consumer brands (Consumer & Healthcare). | Purplle, Byjus, Wakefit | Approach via official website. She's growth-stage (ex-Gaja, IFC). Pitch must be financially rigorous, not seed. |
Ashutosh Sharma | Head of India Investments @ Prosus Ventures | Large-scale tech platforms (Consumer, B2B, EdTech). | Swiggy, Meesho, Urban Company | Approach via official website. IIT/Booth alum; he's growth-stage. Pitch massive market leadership, not seed. |
Rahul Garg | Partner @ General Catalyst | FinTech, Consumer Internet, B2B. (Ethical & inclusive founders). | Zepto, PicSee, Chai Shots | Email: rgarg@generalcatalyst.com. Ex-founder & equity research. Pitch high-impact, tech-driven enterprises. |
Saksham Pant | Investment Team @ BEENEXT | Consumer tech, Deep tech, Ed tech, & SaaS. | Supports India portfolio. | Approach via official website. Ex-Nvidia/Uber. Pitch should be technically sound & operationally focused. |
Govind Lohia | Principal @ Gemba Capital | Consumer Internet, Agri-tech, & FinTech. | Progcap, Pratilipi, Zvolv (ex-Contrari) | Approach via official website. Ex-operator (Upscalio 0->1). Pitch scaling challenges & capital efficiency. |
Prayag Mohanty | Principal @ Fireside Ventures | Early-stage Consumer Brands (D2C). | Supertails, The Baker's Dozen, Smytten | Approach via official website. Ex-dev (Infosys) & banker; pitch must show clear path to scaling a consumer business. |
Navjeet Kumar | Principal @ Pentathlon Ventures | Deep Tech, AI, & Robotics (from his IIT Bombay background). | DeepTek, Spyne, Tripeur | Approach via official website. IIT Bombay (Aerospace/AI) alum; pitch must be technically deep & groundbreaking. |
Nandan Venkatachalam | Principal @ Axilor Ventures | Enterprise Tech, SaaS, B2B Marketplaces, B2B Fintech. | BoxPay, SquadStack, CapGrid | Email: nandan@axilor.com. Ex-IB (JPM). "Feel free to write in"; pitch your B2B model directly. |
Anuvrat Jain (AJ) | Principal @ Lightspeed | Growth-stage (Series B+) disruption in Consumer, FinTech, & SaaS. | Zepto, PocketFM, Razorpay | Approach via official website. He is growth-stage (Series B+). Pitch large-scale disruption, not a seed idea. |
Anand Datta | Partner @ Nexus Venture Partners | FinTech/Insuretech & tech-enabled Commerce ("Bharat" story). | Invests Seed, Series A, Series B. | Email: anand@nexusvp.com. Ex-Bain & startup operator. Openly asks for ideas; pitch your "Bharat" vision. |
Archana Priyadarshini | Partner @ Endurance Capital | Broad sector focus (SaaS, Consumer, Ed/Fin/HealthTech). | 200+ angel/seed investments. | Approach via official website. Ex-founder (IIT Kanpur); pitch innovative, scalable solutions for the Indian market. |
Prayank Swaroop | Partner @ Accel (Atoms) | Cybersecurity, Developer Tools, Marketplaces, & SaaS. | Chargebee, Credgenics, Cult.fit | Approach via official website (Atoms). He's a coder (IIT Delhi); pitch your tech/MVP, not just fluff. |
Pitch the Person, Not Just the Fund
Pitching the right person is more important than pitching the most senior one. These 21 individuals are your entry point. They are your potential champions, and they are actively looking for the next breakout founder to build their own reputation on. Your job isn't to get a "yes" from the main partner; it's to give one of these Champions the conviction and data they need to fight for you.
This list is your "who." The "how" is just as critical. Fundraising is a process of managing dozens of conversations, tracking follow-ups, and building momentum. At Backrr, we built the fundraising Operating System to help you manage this exact process. You can use this list to build your target pipeline on our platform, manage your outreach, and turn these first conversations into your final term sheet.
