Investor Profile: WaterBridge Ventures — The Bharat-First Seed Fund That Leads and Follows On

WaterBridge Ventures is an early-stage Indian venture firm with a simple promise: first in, long after. It writes the first institutional venture cheque — at seed and pre-Series A — into a handful of founders each year, then follows on through Series A, B and C. Its standout feature is a Bharat-centric thesis: many of its bets are on startups serving consumers beyond the metros.

Investment thesis: thesis-forward, lead not follow

WaterBridge is thesis-forward rather than deal-flow driven: market homework is done before the meeting, not after. It leads rounds, sets terms, takes the board seat and puts its name first on the cap table — "if we're in, we're in deep enough to be accountable for the outcome." Its top-down sector-thesis approach is credited by managing partner Manish Kheterpal with a strong early hit rate; the mantra is conviction, not coverage.

Sectors and stages

Six core sectors: B2B, consumer, education, financial services, healthcare and global SaaS — with a distinctive tilt toward Bharat, products for the hundreds of millions of newer Indian internet users in tier-3 and tier-4 towns. It invests at seed to Series A, writing the first institutional cheque before the deck is polished.

Fund size and cheque size

Fund II closed at $150 million in 2021 — 50% above its $100 million target — taking total assets under management past $250 million. The maiden Fund I closed around $30 million in 2018 with backing from SIDBI's fund of funds. The firm cites $200 million of patient capital across two funds, 36 partnered companies, $1.1 billion raised by its founders since its first cheque, and a $4 billion combined value for the companies it backed first. A third vehicle, Opportunities Fund I, followed in 2023. Cheques run from $500,000 to $3 million.

Notable portfolio companies

Names include Atlan, CityMall, Eloelo, OneCode, Loopworm, Zypp Electric, Wakefit, SuperK, Posha, DoubtNut, Magicpin, PocketPills, Bijnis, Chalo, Lentra and ZipLoan. WaterBridge led the $3 million pre-Series A round of CBREX, the talent-sourcing platform. Exits include Unacademy, partially exited in 2021.

Partners and team

Founded in 2017 in Delhi by Manish Kheterpal and Ashish Jain, with Anjali Sosale joining as partner in 2020 and a Bengaluru presence from the same year. The partners describe themselves as former fund managers and operators who have lived inside the sectors their founders are navigating.

Programmes run

In 2020 the firm launched Fast Forward, a dedicated seed funding programme that surfaced OneCode, Eloelo, BitClass, CuriousJr and YellowMetal. It also produces That One Idea, a founder-interview podcast featuring chief executives from its portfolio and beyond.

Credits and perks

No structured startup credits or perks programme is publicly disclosed by the firm.

How founders can approach them

WaterBridge invites pitches through the "Let's start the conversation" form on its website, and says it tells founders why on both yeses and nos — expect direct, thesis-driven feedback. They look for Bharat-centric founders with an unusually deep understanding of the user (right pricing, right product), early evidence of pull, and businesses where technology is the exponential enabler.