Few new funds arrive with this much scar tissue — the good kind. Mettle Capital, launched in May 2026 by former Peak XV Partners managing directors Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma, is one of the most closely watched fund launches in Indian venture capital this year.

The trio left Peak XV in February 2026, following reported disagreements over economics, and are now targeting $350–400 million for the firm's maiden fund. Mettle Capital plans to focus on Series A and Series B deals with selective seed-stage participation, making 5 to 6 high-conviction investments a year — a deliberately concentrated portfolio in an era when many firms are shrinking portfolios toward sector-focused bets. The firm is in conversations with limited partners across the US, Europe and Asia, will also raise domestic capital, and aimed to reach a first close within a quarter of launch, with capital deployment beginning September–October 2026.

The sector focus plays directly to the founders' strengths: enterprise AI, deep tech and consumer internet, alongside fintech and enterprise software where the trio built their track records over more than a decade at Peak XV and its predecessor, Sequoia Capital India. Agrawal joined the firm in 2013; Mittal and Sharma in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Those track records are formidable. Ashish Agrawal led Peak XV's 2019 investment in online brokerage Groww, which delivered a 94x return and culminated in the company's IPO in November 2025. Ishaan Mittal backed fintech major Razorpay and D2C brand Mamaearth. Tejeshwi Sharma led investments in enterprise software and SaaS ventures including Atlan, Scapia, CRED and Whatfix.

Mettle is part of a broader churn at India's top VC firms — fellow ex-Peak XV partners Shailesh Lakhani and Harshjit Sethi launched Ambition Capital, targeting $250 million, earlier in 2026 — as a wave of IPOs and exits gives a younger generation of investors the track record and LP appetite to raise independent funds.

Why it matters for founders

For Series A and B founders in enterprise AI, deep tech and consumer internet, Mettle Capital offers a rare combination: partners who have shepherded companies from early cheque to IPO — Groww at 94x being the headline — now writing concentrated, high-conviction cheques from their own fund. Founders should note the fund is still fundraising, so early conversations now can shape its first portfolio.