Investor Profile: 8i Ventures — The Fintech Specialists Betting on India Before the Crowd

Investment thesis

8i Ventures backs founders "before the world agrees with them." Founded in 2019, the Mumbai-and-Bengaluru firm is built on the belief that fintech is the single largest venture opportunity in India — founding partner Vikram Chachra has argued that every friction point in India's financial economy is a potential billion-dollar startup. With Fund II, that thesis extended into B2B fintech and commerce — "the next trillion-dollar market." The style is conviction-led and early: enter at seed and take meaningful ownership.

Sectors and stages

The firm invests from seed to early stage, with its historic centre of gravity in fintech and consumer — "fintech and consumer category leaders in India" is how it describes its target. Its Origami programme is deliberately sector-agnostic, but the core portfolio remains fintech enablers and challenger consumer brands.

Fund size and cheque size

8i Ventures launched with a first fund of $15.5 million (roughly Rs 100 crore). Its second fund targets $50 million, with a $25 million first close announced in November 2021. Through the Origami programme, it writes cheques of $250,000 to $2 million, and the firm expects to do five to six deals a year from Fund II.

Notable portfolio companies

8i Ventures and its partners have backed more than 50 seed and early-stage startups that have created over $5 billion in shareholder value, according to the firm. The headline act is M2P, where a $200,000 first cheque delivered a 36x return. Other early bets include credit-card startup Slice, payments gateway Easebuzz, coffee chain Blue Tokai, corporate card platform Kodo, transaction-banking platform TransBnk — whose $4 million Series A was led by 8i Ventures — quick-service brand Boba Bhai, health brand BBetter and listed CarTrade. Fund I is reportedly up 270% with a 100% IRR, 27% of capital already returned.

Partners and team

The firm was founded by Vikram Chachra and Vishwanath V, who remain its founding partners. It runs a deliberately small team across Mumbai and Bengaluru — a structure that keeps decision-making fast and founder-facing.

Programs run

Origami is 8i Ventures' pre-seed and seed programme — a $10 million allocation from Fund II. It follows a "1-2-4 model": a response within one week, a term sheet within two, and deal closure within four weeks, with no warm introduction needed. Its first edition (March 2024) invested $600,000 across three startups — Cobalt, Cautio and one pre-launch team. A second edition, Origami V2, followed in November 2024 with the $10 million allocation continuing.

Credits and perks

No public credits or perks programme is disclosed; the firm's stated value-add is speed, transparency and partner-level attention rather than a vendor catalogue.

How founders can approach them

Founders apply through the questionnaire on the firm's website — no warm intro required. First calls happen within seven days, and promising teams meet the partners the week after. What the partners say they look for: a clear vision, a deep understanding of customer pain points, a specific insight into the problem plus a credible solution and go-to-market plan, and a well-rounded team spanning technology, product and sales. If your round is time-sensitive, Origami is built for you.