Zeropearl VC is a solo-GP pre-seed and seed fund founded by Bipin Shah, an IIT Bombay alumnus and former Titan Capital partner. It announced the final close of its maiden corpus at ₹159 crore (about $18 million) in September 2025 — 3.5x oversubscribed against its original ₹80 crore target, with Shah capping the fund to stay highly selective. More than half the capital came from 31 founders, including 18 unicorn leaders and several IPO-linked entrepreneurs.
Thesis
Zeropearl runs on a “founder-only” thesis: Shah is the single decision-maker, leads friends-and-family and pre-seed rounds, and aims to be a founder’s first substantial believer. It is sector-agnostic but leans towards D2C/B2C and GenAI/SaaS — open to pre-revenue bets in SaaS and B2C, while D2C brands are expected to show at least ₹1 lakh in monthly revenue. The process is built for speed: founders get a yes or no within seven days, term sheets in a week and closes within a month. The fund plans 12–15 investments a year, targeting about an 8% stake in each and backing roughly 45 startups overall. Shah targets selectivity of around 0.5% of the opportunities he evaluates each year.
Sectors and stages
Pre-seed and seed; sector-agnostic with an inclination towards consumer (D2C/B2C) and SaaS/GenAI, alongside AI, climate tech and healthtech exposure.
Notable portfolio
Shah’s personal track record — over 14 years, more than 50,000 startups evaluated, 5,000 founders met, 250+ seed and pre-seed investments — includes early bets on Mamaearth, Credgenics, InVideo, Giva and CityMall, plus exits via Beardo (acquired by Marico), Oziva (acquired by HUL) and SuprDaily (acquired by Swiggy). Fund I disclosed investments include Gully Labs, Cura Care, Zanskar, Catalogus, Akinna, Supply6 and Tryo, with recent rounds led in Vecton AI (₹6 crore pre-seed for AI in financial institutions) and LiLLBUD (₹6 crore seed for early-childhood products).
Partners and team
Bipin Shah is founder and managing partner and the fund’s sole GP. He previously spent 14 years in early-stage investing, was a partner at Titan Capital, and led Eureka! — IIT Bombay’s entrepreneurship cell — as a student. The fund has been hiring an investment associate on a partner track with significant carry.
Programs
Zeropearl describes a “gardening” approach: unconditional portfolio support, board-level 1:1 strategy discussions, and a push to get companies to a Series A within 15–24 months — citing a 50% Series A conversion rate over the past decade and a realised IRR of over 50% over the past ten years (Shah’s stated track record).
Why it matters for founders
If you want one decisive investor rather than a committee, a solo-GP fund like Zeropearl is purpose-built for you — one meeting, one decision-maker, and a term sheet within seven days. Its founder-LP base of 31 operators also means your lead investor brings an on-call bench of people who have scaled companies themselves.