Navam Venture Trust — Navam Capital | Wisefolio

Navam Venture Trust

Cat II · Managed by Navam Capital

Backing Founders Who Bring the Future Into the Present.

Private equity, private credit and real-estate funds that don't employ leverage except for operating needs. The largest AIF category.

Overview

About

Navam Venture Trust is a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (reg. IN/AIF2/22-23/1244), registered in March 2023 and managed by Navam Capital Partners LLP — a Kolkata-based deep technology venture capital firm headquartered at Continental Chambers, 4th Floor, 15A Hemanta Basu Sarani, Kolkata 700001. 'Navam' is Sanskrit for 'new' — reflecting the firm's focus on pathbreaking, first-of-their-kind technologies. Navam Capital was co-founded by Rajeev Mantri (Founder & Managing Partner) — a deep tech investor and author based in Kolkata, known for his commentary on technology, innovation, and geopolitics in The Mint and other publications — and Anjan Ray (Investment Partner). The fund invests in engineering-driven ventures that transform old industries and create new ones, backing founders at the frontier of the knowledge economy across aerospace, advanced computing, semiconductors, biotech, climate tech, agritech, and deep-tech AI. Portfolio companies include Ather Energy, Aereo (Bengaluru drone pioneer, IIT Kanpur spinout, $15M Series B), Agnikul Cosmos (IIT Madras space launch vehicles), Morphing Machines (IISc-incubated fabless semiconductor), Alyssum Therapeutics (cancer therapeutics), Fasal (precision agritech), Frinks AI (manufacturing AI), Vayudh (IIT Delhi drone swarm tech), and Vyome Therapeutics (listed on Nasdaq as HIND in 2025). The input logo_url_original was a website loader SVG — not a usable logo.

Investment philosophy

Navam Capital's investment philosophy is grounded in the conviction that pathbreaking innovation requires a cross-disciplinary approach combining investment, operating, product development, and scientific research perspectives. The firm invests in engineering-driven companies that are translating inventions into product innovations and taking technology-differentiated products to market. Navam's core thesis: great deep-tech founders are building companies that expand India's production-possibilities frontier, creating the technological moats necessary for population-scale prosperity. The firm's long-term orientation provides patient capital across stages of venture growth. Portfolio companies are often rooted in India's elite research institutions — IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, IISc Bengaluru — reflecting the firm's explicit preference for science-backed ventures. Rajeev Mantri's intellectual contributions (published in Mint, Tricorder newsletter) focus on the strategic importance of deep technology for India's economic transformation.

Team5

Rajeev Mantri

Founder and Managing Partner

Rajeev Mantri is the Founder and Managing Partner of Navam Capital Partners LLP and the SEBI-designated contact person for Navam Venture Trust. He is a Kolkata-based deep tech investor, author, and co-author of 'A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State' (HarperCollins, 2020). His investment thesis focuses on science-based, engineering-driven companies at the frontier of the knowledge economy. He writes for Mint on technology, innovation, and geopolitics, and runs Tricorder — Navam Capital's newsletter on technology and venture capital. He has been investing in deep tech since the early 2010s.

Anjan Ray

Investment Partner

Anjan Ray is an Investment Partner at Navam Capital, contributing operational and investment expertise to the fund's deep technology portfolio.

Shiladitya Sengupta

Advisor

Venture Advisor

Shiladitya Sengupta is a Venture Advisor at Navam Capital. He is a professor at Harvard Medical School (Associate Professor of Medicine) and co-founder of multiple biotech companies, bringing deep expertise in cancer biology, drug delivery, and translational medicine — directly relevant to Navam's biotech portfolio (Alyssum Therapeutics, Vyome).

Tarun Mehta

Advisor

Venture Advisor

Tarun Mehta is a Venture Advisor at Navam Capital and Co-Founder & CEO of Ather Energy — Navam's portfolio company that is India's leading premium electric two-wheeler manufacturer (IPO-ready as of 2025). His operational expertise in hardware-led deep tech entrepreneurship provides unique advisory value to Navam's portfolio.

Ramesh Mangaleswaran

Advisor

Senior Advisor

Registration

SEBI registration

SEBI-registered

SEBI registration no.IN/AIF2/22-23/1244

RegisteredMar 2023 (3 years ago)

Valid untilPerpetual

Contact personRajeev Mantri

AddressContinental Chambers 4th Floor 15A Hemanta Basu Sarani Kolkata 700001, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700001

Investment manager

Insights

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Disclaimer

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