In India’s rapidly evolving startup ecosystem, where investor attention often gravitates toward trending sectors and emerging technologies, Aeravti Ventures is taking a different path. Led by Managing Partner Rishabh Singh, the firm focuses on backing resilient founders tackling fundamental challenges across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy.
Drawing from his own entrepreneurial journey and years of working closely with startups, Singh has built Aeravti Ventures around a simple but often overlooked principle: great companies are ultimately built by exceptional founders. In this conversation, he shares the firm’s investment philosophy, sectoral focus, and how hands-on partnership creates long-term value for portfolio companies.
From Entrepreneur to Venture Investor
Rishabh Singh’s entrepreneurial journey began in Bangalore before expanding to the United States, where he gained first-hand experience building and scaling businesses. Following a successful startup exit, he launched an investment banking practice in 2019, advising founders and growth-stage companies on fundraising and strategic initiatives.
His exposure to entrepreneurs across various sectors eventually led to the formation of Aeravti Ventures. After securing its SEBI license in late 2022, the firm formally entered the venture capital landscape with a mission to support ambitious founders at the earliest stages of their journeys.
Reflecting on his transition from entrepreneur to investor, Singh noted that the lessons learned from operating businesses continue to shape how Aeravti evaluates opportunities today.
Investing in People Before Metrics
Unlike many investors who prioritize historical performance and traction, Aeravti places founders at the center of its decision-making process.
According to Singh, early-stage investing is less about spreadsheets and more about understanding a founder’s resilience, motivation, and self-awareness. While market opportunity and business fundamentals remain important, the firm believes exceptional founders can navigate uncertainty, adapt to changing circumstances, and create value even when initial plans evolve.
This people-first approach enables Aeravti to back companies at a stage where traditional metrics may still be limited, focusing instead on the founder’s ability to execute against clearly defined milestones.
Looking Beyond Crowded Sectors
As artificial intelligence and deep-tech investments continue to attract significant capital, Singh cautioned against investors entering highly specialized sectors without sufficient domain expertise.
Rather than following prevailing market trends, Aeravti focuses on sectors it believes remain underserved despite their long-term importance to the economy. These include:
- Agricultural value-chain infrastructure
- Biotechnology and healthtech
- Technology-enabled manufacturing
- Energy and sustainability solutions
The firm is also selectively interested in fintech opportunities, particularly those that strengthen rural financial services and NBFC-led credit infrastructure.
Singh emphasized that these sectors often require patience and operational understanding, but they also present opportunities to create lasting impact while solving critical structural challenges.
The ONO Case Study: Building Agricultural Intelligence Through Data
One of the most illustrative examples of Aeravti’s investment philosophy is its backing of ONO, an agritech venture operating at the intersection of data, finance, and agricultural infrastructure.
Aeravti invested in the company at a pre-revenue stage, driven largely by confidence in the founding team’s ability to execute. Since then, the company has progressed against key milestones, strengthening investor conviction through tangible execution.
Among the factors supporting Aeravti’s continued confidence are ONO’s efforts to digitize fragmented agricultural data, progress toward acquiring an NBFC, and the successful disbursement of loans within its ecosystem.
The company’s evolution also highlights Singh’s broader perspective on artificial intelligence in agriculture. He argued that effective agricultural AI cannot exist without first unlocking high-quality, relevant data. More importantly, technology alone is insufficient in sectors that depend heavily on trust and on-ground relationships.
Instead, Singh advocates for a human-assisted AI model, where technology augments decision-making while field teams continue to play a central role in adoption and execution.
A Hands-On Approach to Portfolio Support
Beyond capital, Aeravti differentiates itself through active involvement with portfolio companies.
The firm’s partners work closely with founders across multiple dimensions, including governance, hiring, strategic decision-making, and fundraising preparedness. The broader network of principals, limited partners, and industry advisors further extends the support available to entrepreneurs.
This operational involvement often goes beyond traditional venture capital engagement. Singh highlighted examples where Aeravti actively supported portfolio companies through complex transactions, including assistance related to NBFC acquisitions and due diligence processes.
For the firm, venture investing is not simply about writing checks but about helping founders navigate critical growth inflection points.
Conclusion
As startup ecosystems become increasingly crowded and trend-driven, Aeravti Ventures is carving out a distinctive position by prioritizing founder quality, operational support, and sectors that address fundamental economic challenges.
For Rishabh Singh, successful venture investing is not about chasing the latest market narrative. It is about identifying determined founders, supporting them through uncertainty, and building conviction through execution rather than hype.
With a focus on agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, energy, and financial infrastructure, Aeravti Ventures continues to back entrepreneurs working on long-term solutions, reinforcing the belief that sustainable value creation begins with exceptional people and patient partnership.
Interview BY: Kashish Srivastava
