A single family office, or SFO, is the personal wealth management firm of wealthy families. It is widely believed that the concept was first introduced in the 19th century by the Rockefeller family.
This concept is also being followed by the wealthiest families in India. While it is said that over 90 SFOs exist in India, there’s only a limited amount of information available online. Not all of these family office funds are investing in startups. Following up with our lists of startup investors, we found 17 family office funds in India that are investing in Indian startups.
Here’s all you need to know about the single family office funds in India:
1. Aarin Capital (Dr. Ranjan Pai, Mohandas Pai)
Aarin Capital was started by Dr. Ranjan Pai, CEO & MD of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) and Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys.
Key Investments: inc42
Contact: +91 80 3078 9100 / info@aarincapital.com
2. Ajay Piramal SFO
Ajay Piramal is the Chairman of Piramal Group & Shriram Group who have activities in pharma, financial services, real estate, information services, glass packaging etc. Ajay’s family office acts as an anchor investor in Montane Venture who plan on investing in technology and consumer startups.
Key Investments: Mavin
3. Artha India Ventures (Anirudh Damani)
Anirudh Damani is the CEO of Artha India Ventures who invest in next generation business models. AIV is backed by Damani’s family office K. Damani Group, which he’s also the Director of.
Key Investments: OYO Rooms, Coutloot.
Contact: 022 61048900 / +91 9699 308 910 / info@artha.ventures
4. Burman Family Office (Gaurav Burman)
The Burman Family Office is led by Gaurav Burman and is a private investment arm of Dabur India, which was founded by Dr. S. K. Burman.
Key Investments: Easypolicy
5. Catamaran Ventures (NR Narayana Murthy)
Catamaran Ventures is the family office of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy. It was founded in 2010 and invests in early stage and growing companies in India and overseas. They are sector agnostic and have invested in 6 companies so far.
Key Investments: Paper Boat, Yebh, Lookup
Contact: 080 2664 9440
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6. Sharrp Ventures (Harsh Mariwala)
Harsh Mariwala founded his family office named Sharrp Ventures after being urged by his son Rishabh. They invest in seed, venture and private equity funds, and also indulge in co-investment activities.
7. JSW Venture Fund (Sajjan Jindal)
JSW Venture Fund was launched by Sajjan Jindal from the Jindal Group. They invest in early stage startups that are in sectors like SaaS, Fintech, Consumer Internet, Mobile, E-commerce, Health Tech, Analytics, Education, IoT etc.
Key Investments: Overcart, Purplle, Indus OS.
Contact: +91 22 4286 1000 / +91 22 4286 3000 / contact@jsw.in
8. Lodha Group’s Startup Investment Fund (Mangal Prabhat Lodha)
Mangal Prabhat Lodha, founder of Lodha Group, launched his family office fund. Lodha Group’s Startup Investment Fund is focused on startups providing smart city solutions and real estate. They invest in startups at all stages.
9. Murugappa Family Group
Murugappa Family Group is a leading Chennai-headquartered family-owned business which is investing in startups India.
Key Investments: Industrybuying.com
Contact: +91 (44) 25306789 / 25306222 / mailgcc@corp.murugappa.com
10. RAAY (Amit Patni)
RAAY is the single family office of the Amit Patni Group. It was established in 2002. They have a family-centric approach to their investments that allow them to align it with their family’s vision.
Key Investments: Velvetcase.com
Contact: +91 22 6742 3815 / info@raayinvestments.com
11. PremjiInvest (Azim Premji)
PremjiInvest is an investment firm led by Azim Premji, The Chairman of Wipro. Founded in 2006, it has invested in 14 companies so far.
Key Investments: Lenskart.com, Snapdeal
12. RNT Associates (Ratan Tata)
RNT Associates is Ratan Tata’s personal family office. It was established in 2009.
Key Investments: Cardekho
13. Innovations Investment Management (SD Shibulal)
Former Infosys Co-Founder SD Shibulal oversees his family office, Innovations Investment Management, since he stepped down at CEO in 2014.
14. Soma Capital (Aneel Ranadive)
Soma Capital, founded by Aneel Ranadive who works with his father Vivek Ranadive, is a family office fund that invests in technology startups. They make seed and early stage venture investments.
Key Investments: Supr Daily, WaystoCap
Contact: info@somacapital.io / aneel@somacapital.io
15. The Three Sisters (Rana Kapoor)
The Three Sisters manages the family wealth of Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor. The name derives from a reference to his daughters – Radha, Raakhe and Roshini. Their areas of interest are education, tourism, family entertainment centres, and agri-logistics among sectors.
Key Investments: Presto
16. Unilazer Ventures (Ronnie Screwvala)
Unilazer Ventures is the Indian family office of business tycoon, Ronnie Screwvala. It was founded in 2010 and invests in early and late stage investments.
Key Investments: EasyPolicy
Contact: 022 6109 3730
17. YouWeCan Ventures (Yuvraj Singh)
YouWeCan Ventures was founded by Yuvraj Singh and provides seed funding to entrepreneurs. He aims to empower them to build brands and successful business ventures.
Key Investments: Startup Buddy, Vyomo, EduKart
Contact: proposal@youwecanventures.com
