Info Edge Ventures: The ₹750 Cr Fund Backed by Naukri's Parent and Temasek

Info Edge Ventures is the early-stage venture capital fund backed by Info Edge, the listed Indian internet giant behind Naukri.com, 99acres, Jeevansathi and Shiksha. Launched in 2020, the fund's first vehicle is a ₹750 crore early-stage fund — and in December 2020 it added Temasek as an LP with a commitment of about ₹350 crore, bringing patient sovereign-scale capital to the table.

The fund's headline advantage is lineage. Info Edge was the first institutional investor in Zomato and PolicyBazaar, two of India's most successful internet listings. In his FY25 shareholder letter, founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani disclosed that Info Edge invested a total of ₹483.78 crore in Zomato and ₹591.40 crore in PolicyBazaar — stakes now worth ₹38,350 crore and ₹15,133 crore respectively — and that the firm has generated an estimated 36% gross IRR across all its investment vintages since it began financial investing in 2007.

Thesis-wise, the fund is sector-agnostic within technology. Its mandate covers "tech and tech-enabled entities that provide technology to create, market and distribute innovative products and services that benefit consumers at large." Investments have spanned e-commerce, fintech, edtech, healthtech, gaming, SaaS, digital media and agri-tech. The firm also doubled down on AI: since 2020 it has invested over ₹1,000 crore across 54 AI and deeptech startups — including enterprise AI, consumer AI and AI infrastructure — ahead of the broader market wave.

Fund size and stages are public: Info Edge Venture Fund I is ₹750 crore, and a second fund (Info Edge Venture Fund II) is active, though its size has not been publicly disclosed. The fund describes itself as a partner "from Seed to IPO," backing companies from early seed through growth. Individual cheque sizes are not publicly disclosed.

The portfolio includes Shipsy (global logistics SaaS), Adda247 (government-jobs test prep platform), ShopKirana (B2B e-commerce connecting FMCG brands and retailers), Bijnis (Shoekonnect) (B2B fashion commerce), Ustraa (men's grooming D2C brand), Gramophone (agri-tech with agronomic insights and input delivery), DotPe (digitizing offline retail), Qyuki (creator media), FanClash (esports engagement), Truemeds (online pharmacy), Bulbul (video commerce), and Zingbus (intercity bus travel).

The team is led by Kitty Agarwal, Partner at Info Edge Ventures, with Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and executive vice chairman of Info Edge, and Amit Behl involved in the fund's direction. The team says it measures itself by the growth and success of its portfolio companies rather than by deal volume.

Info Edge Ventures does not run a public accelerator. Its perk is structural: founders get access to the Info Edge network — operating DNA from Naukri, 99acres and Jeevansathi, Temasek's global network, and the strategic guidance of one of India's most experienced internet teams. For consumer and marketplace startups, that operating heritage is arguably worth more than a credits bundle.

Founders can pitch directly at [email protected], which the firm lists on its website. The team looks for entrepreneurs who will succeed "with or without" them — Bikhchandani's stated philosophy of early-stage investing is finding founders and companies that will win regardless, and then backing them with patient capital.