Early-stage venture capital firm Sadev Ventures has appointed Ishan Kansal as Co-founder and Managing Partner as the firm looks to strengthen its leadership team and expand its investment operations across India.
The Bengaluru-based venture capital firm said Kansal will officially join the company in early June 2026 and will be based out of Bengaluru, where Sadev Ventures is planning to establish its second office in the country.
Founded in 2024 by former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, Sadev Ventures focuses on backing early-stage startups building long-term businesses from India. The appointment comes at a time when the firm is preparing for its next phase of growth, with plans to scale its assets under management to INR 1,000 crore over the next 18-24 months.
Kansal brings experience across consumer internet, fintech, insurtech, and investment banking, having worked with several high-growth startups and technology companies. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Indore, he joins Sadev Ventures from home services startup Snabbit, where he served as Head of Product and led the company’s product, design, and data functions.
Snabbit is backed by major investors including Susquehanna Venture Capital, Lightspeed, Nexus Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and Bertelsmann.
Before Snabbit, Kansal spent nearly six years at fintech startup CRED as part of its early leadership team. During his tenure, he worked across multiple verticals including payments, lending, insurance, and deposits, while also handling user growth and monetisation initiatives. Earlier in his career, he worked with Paytm and Deutsche Bank across India and APAC markets.
Sadev Ventures said Kansal’s appointment will strengthen the firm’s operator-led investment approach and help support founders during the early stages of company building.
Commenting on the appointment, Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, Founder and Managing Partner at Sadev Ventures, said Ishan Kansal has been a trusted associate for over a decade and brings a strong combination of operational expertise, product understanding, and business insight.
He added that Kansal’s experience will help the firm identify high-potential founders and support startups as they scale from the 0-to-1 and 1-to-10 growth stages.
Sadev Ventures currently manages a corpus of INR 240 crore and has invested in startups such as Asaya, Bidso, Atomgrid, Cleevo, Vama, Gladful, Prosperr, and Liquide.
The firm’s limited partner base includes several well-known startup founders and business leaders including MakeMyTrip founder Deep Kalra, Fixderma founder Shaily Mehrotra, Kotak Mahindra CMO Rohit Bhasin, BharatPe CEO Nalin Negi, and OTP Ventures’ Suhail Sameer, Saurabh Vashishtha, and Kunal Suri.
The company also plans to launch its second equity fund and formally enter the venture debt segment as part of its expansion strategy.
-By Shivani Solanki
