Z47: The Matrix India veteran reborn for 2047

Z47 is the new identity of one of India's oldest VC franchises: founded in 2006 as Matrix Partners India, the firm completed its separation from Matrix Partners US and rebranded as Z47 on 1 July 2024 — inspired, the firm says, by India's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. Its own homepage reports $3.5Bn in AUM, 100+ investments and 10 unicorns, with a remit that runs from seed to growth and advisory offices in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.

Thesis and focus areas

Z47's tagline is "Founder Vision, Nation Mission": it partners with mission-driven founders building companies that help carry India toward developed-nation status by 2047. The firm describes its approach as thematic basing rather than trend-chasing — investing in sectors that will form the infrastructure of modern India. Core hunting grounds are consumer technology, B2B commerce, enterprise software and SaaS, fintech, and increasingly AI-first companies.

Fund size and cheque size

The firm's fourth India fund launched in May 2023 with a $450M target and was upsized to $525M at close. Its public materials report $3.5Bn in assets under management across its history. Individual first-cheque sizes are not publicly disclosed; the stated mandate runs from seed through growth stages.

Notable portfolio

Z47's portfolio spans India's biggest outcomes: Ola (ride-hailing), Ola Electric (electric two-wheelers, listed), Razorpay (payments), OfBusiness (SME financing), Oxyzo (tech-enabled financing), Dailyhunt (local-language content), Five Star (NBFC, listed), Country Delight (D2C dairy), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), Jupiter (digital banking), MoEngage (customer engagement), Zupee (skill-based gaming), GoKwik (D2C checkout), Mswipe (mobile point-of-sale), Stanza Living (student housing) and Captain Fresh (seafood B2B). Its AI roster includes Krutrim (India's first AI unicorn), Murf AI (AI voice), Atomicwork (AI ITSM), SuperOps.ai (AI-powered PSA-RMM), GreyLabs AI and Neysa (AI infrastructure).

Partners

The firm was founded by Avnish Bajaj (former Baazee.com founder and eBay India MD). Managing directors include Rajinder Balaraman and Vikram Vaidyanathan, with investors such as Ashwin Kannan Pandian (AI & software) and Aakash Kumar on the team.

Programs, credits and perks

Z47 runs the long-standing #MatrixMoments podcast series, the Z47 Moments newsletter, and publishes research like The India AI Edge report (with OpenAI). It also convenes closed-door founder forums, including an AI-in-fintech roundtable with the Reserve Bank of India and a monthly founder hiking series pairing founders with experts. No formal founder credits or perks programme is publicly advertised.

How founders can approach them

The firm's site has a dedicated founder view ("Switch founder/Investor view") at z47.com and a newsletter that gets startup ideas and insights into founders' inboxes. Pitch Z47 if your company can credibly claim to be building foundational infrastructure for India's next two decades — that is literally the fund's reason for existing.