Agility Ventures (Agility Venture Partners) is pursuing an ambitious mission: to make startup investing in India as accessible as investing in a mutual fund. Founded by Dhianu Das and Prashant Narang, the firm operates on the belief that early-stage investing should not be limited to a small circle of wealthy individuals — and that founders benefit most from investors who are themselves operators and entrepreneurs.

The firm's thesis centres on bringing three things to early-stage companies: money, mentoring, and market access. Its investors are not passive capital providers but operators who commit time, expertise, and global networks to portfolio companies. This operator-led model means founders get practical help with go-to-market, hiring, and scaling — not just a cheque and quarterly board meetings.

The scale of Agility Ventures is what makes it notable. In January 2022, the firm launched a SEBI-approved angel fund with a total corpus of Rs 450 crore (approximately $60 million), to be deployed over 3–4 years. This was one of the larger angel fund launches in India at the time, signalling serious institutional intent behind the angel network model. The network itself comprised 1,500+ angel investors at launch, with chapters across India as well as Canada, the UAE, Australia, and the UK — giving portfolio companies access to global markets and follow-on capital.

Agility Ventures operates across three verticals: an Angel Network for deal-by-deal investments, AIF Funds for pooled capital, and Consulting Services for startup advisory. This structure allows it to serve founders at different stages and investors with different risk appetites. The firm is sector-agnostic, investing from early to growth stages across education, healthcare, e-commerce, automobiles, EVs, robotics, agri-tech, manufacturing, fintech, and cybersecurity. The average ticket size is INR 50–75 lakh, making it accessible for seed-stage founders.

In 2021, the firm launched Fluid Ventures, a D2C-focused SEBI-registered Category-1 VC fund, extending its reach into India's direct-to-consumer boom. This shows the firm's ability to create specialised vehicles for high-conviction sectors while maintaining its generalist angel network.

Notable portfolio companies include Vanity Wagon (beauty marketplace, $2 million round), HouseEazy (proptech, $1 million seed), ExpandCart (e-commerce SaaS, $2.7 million pre-Series B), earKART (hearing care), Batt:RE (electric two-wheelers), Good Fettle (low-calorie ice cream), and ZEVO (electric supply-chain platform).

Why it matters for founders

If you are raising a seed or pre-Series A round and want more than a single cheque — access to a 1,500+ operator-led angel network plus a Rs 450 crore SEBI-approved fund — Agility Ventures offers both breadth and depth. Their sector-agnostic approach and INR 50–75 lakh ticket size make them accessible to most early-stage founders, while the Fluid Ventures vehicle shows they can go deep in D2C. The operator-investor model means you get hands-on help, not just capital.