Fundamentum Cofounder Ashish Kumar Launches ₹2,000 Cr AI & Deeptech VC Fund

Fundamentum Partnership partner and cofounder Ashish Kumar has launched a new private investment platform, Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), to invest in startups building in the deeptech and AI sector.  

F2A has received SEBI approval to set up an ₹2,000 Cr alternative investment fund (AIF), which is to be raised from domestic and foreign investors. Infosys’ cofounder Nandan Nilekani will be the anchor investor in the fund, which aims to back AI-native and deeptech startups. 

In parallel, the firm will also manage ₹1,000 Cr in co-investments through a vehicle set up outside of India. 

Additionally, Debraj Banerjee has also joined F2A as a general partner. Banerjee previously served as Senior Fund Manager and Investment Committee Member at SIDBI Venture Capital. Meanwhile, Kumar will continue to oversee the portfolio of the earlier Fundamentum funds while building F2A. 

“We are seeing a structural shift in how AI and deeptech are being built and adopted across sectors. F2A is a continuation of our effort to partner with founders building enduring, technology-led businesses, with the same disciplined, long-term approach that has defined Fundamentum,” Kumar said. 

F2A describes itself as “a platform with multiple strategies over a period of time.” It is a stage-agnostic investment VC firm aiming to back startups building in consumer, enterprise and physical AI through its investment vehicles. While Kumar will lead the consumer & AI investments, Banerjee will lead investments in enterprise & physical AI. 

“F2A represents our belief that enduring companies are built on strong foundations, explore frontier technologies, and achieve non-linear acceleration. Foundation reflects the strong base; Frontier reflects innovation through emerging technologies; Acceleration reflects how they scale,” Nilekani said. 

Founded in 2017 by Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal, Fundamentum Partnership is a tech-focussed venture capital firm that invests in and provides mentorship to startups. While some team members including Kumar and Nilekani are common between Fundamentum and F2A, the two are separate legal entities. 

The launch of F2A comes amid growing investor interest in the Indian deeptech sector. Just this week, Piper Serica launched its Bharat Tech Fund to back startups across semiconductors, AI, spacetech, defence tech and biosciences; while Shastra VC launched a $100 Mn fund to back early-stage startups in deeptech, AI and climate sciences sectors.

Government and policy support has also provided a boost to the industry. Earlier this year, the Centre extended Startup India benefits for deeptech ventures to 20 years and raised the turnover eligibility threshold to ₹300 Cr. The last two Union Budgets also included support for the sector through the ₹1 Lakh Cr RDI scheme and the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0. 

Notably, deeptech emerged as India’s third most-funded startup segment in 2025. While deeptech startups raised about $500 Mn across 87 deals last year, the sector attracted $166 Mn of capital in Q1 2026 alone. 

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