Lavni Ventures is a Bengaluru-based, SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund with a sharp thesis: back early-stage deep-tech startups delivering measurable social impact. Founded in 2020 by Vasu Guruswamy, Sanjay Kanvinde and Krishna Shivram, Lavni's motto is "Creating Impact. Making Returns."

Funds and thesis

Lavni Fund II, a ₹200 crore deep-tech impact fund, has marked its first close and is now investing. It writes initial cheques of ₹2–8 crore (USD 225K–900K) at Seed to Series A, with ₹8–15 crore reserved for follow-ons at Series A–B. Target sectors: climate, healthcare, energy and education, with a focus on medtech, edtech, cleantech and agritech.

Lavni's model is mentor-first: it partners with founders as mentors before investing, then provides strategic and technical guidance, international market access and help raising later rounds. The fund reviews over 800 deep-tech deals a year and says plainly that many deep-tech startups die between Seed and Series A for lack of exactly this kind of hands-on capital. The founders bring global experience across technology development, operations, marketing and finance, and the firm operates on a standard 2% management fee, 20% carry VC model.

Portfolio and impact track record

Portfolio companies include PadCare Labs (menstrual-hygiene waste recycling, featured on Shark Tank India), Monitra Healthcare (AI cardiac monitoring), MedPrime Technologies, Learning Matters (AI-based teacher training), Vidcare, StayQrious, DeepIQ, FlytBase and Revterra. Recent portfolio milestones: Monitra Health closed a $1.5 million pre-Series A round; PadCare Labs closed a ₹5 crore seed round led by Social Alpha with Lavni's participation; and Vidcare Technologies raised $300,000 in a pre-seed round with Lavni participating.

Collectively, Fund I startups had, by FY25, delivered over 3.5 million student learning hours, more than 10,000 healthcare interventions in underserved markets, and 303 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent saved — the kind of measured impact most funds only promise.

Key people

Vasu Guruswamy — Co-founder and General Partner; Sanjay Kanvinde — Co-founder; Krishna Shivram — Co-founder.

Lavni's portfolio also spans the US and UK alongside India, and the firm stresses that it is "not a portfolio play" — it prefers a concentrated set of deep engagements where quality trumps quantity.

Why it matters for founders

Deep-tech founders in health, climate, energy or education face a brutal Seed-to-Series-A valley of death — Lavni exists precisely for that gap. Its ₹2–8 crore first cheques, mentor-led engagement, and willingness to track impact alongside returns make it a rare investor that understands science-led timelines. If you're building hard tech with a purpose, Fund II is actively writing cheques right now.