India’s alternative investment space continues to deepen, and 360 ONE WAM is making a decisive move into early-stage venture investing.

Its asset management arm, 360 ONE Asset, has launched a dedicated ₹500 crore ($60 million) venture capital fund focused on seed and Series A startups. The strategy marks the firm’s formal entry into early-stage investing and reflects growing institutional confidence in India’s next startup cycle.

The fund will be led by Abhishek Nag, Senior Fund Manager and Strategy Head, Early-Stage VC at 360 ONE Asset, while the broader private equity and venture capital platform continues to be overseen by Sameer Nath, CIO and Head of PE and VC at 360 ONE Asset.

For HNI and UHNI investors, this launch is more than another VC announcement. It highlights how India’s leading wealth and alternative asset platforms are increasingly building long-duration private market ecosystems rather than limiting themselves to traditional wealth management.

About The Fund Managers

Abhishek Nag – Senior Fund Manager and Strategy Head, Early-Stage VC

Abhishek Nag is an experienced operator and investor who leads the early-stage venture strategy at 360 ONE Asset. Before joining the firm, he held high-impact leadership roles at global technology giants including Netflix (Director of Business Development), Uber (Head of Partnerships), and Meta, and was previously a Partner at Lightspeed India. An alumnus of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Abhishek has personally backed over 50 startups as an angel investor—including MPL and MyGate—and now focuses on bridging the funding gap for seed to Series A startups in sectors like AI and Fintech.

Sameer Nath – CIO and Head of Private Equity & Venture Capital

Sameer Nath oversees the entire private markets platform at 360 ONE Asset, managing a portfolio of approximately $3 billion in assets. With over 25 years of experience in investment banking and private equity, he previously served as a Managing Director at Citigroup and co-founded Iron Pillar, a mid-stage tech-focused venture fund. Sameer, who holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, provides the institutional oversight necessary to scale the firm’s “Idea to IPO” capital stack, helping startups navigate the journey from early growth to public markets.

Backed By A $3 Billion Private Equity Platform

360 ONE Asset, formerly known as IIFL Asset Management, already operates a sizeable alternatives platform anchored by nearly $3 billion in private equity assets.

The new VC strategy is designed to complement that larger platform by creating what the firm calls an “Idea to IPO” capital stack — supporting startups from their first institutional funding round all the way through scale and potential public market participation.

That positioning is important.

Instead of operating as a standalone venture fund chasing short-term startup momentum, 360 ONE appears to be building an integrated investment ecosystem where founders can access long-term institutional capital across multiple growth stages.

Aiming To Bridge India’s VC Funding Gap

One of the most important aspects of the strategy was highlighted by Abhishek Nag, who said the firm aims to bridge the “white space” between India’s micro-VC ecosystem and large global investment funds.

This gap has existed in India’s startup ecosystem for years.

Many startups successfully raise small seed rounds but often struggle to secure structured institutional backing during scaling phases before attracting large global investors.

360 ONE’s approach aims to position itself in that middle layer — backing founders early while continuing to support them with patient, long-term capital through their growth journey.

For sophisticated investors, that creates exposure to businesses much earlier in the value creation cycle while still benefiting from institutional due diligence, governance oversight, and structured capital allocation.

Sector Focus: AI, Defence, Fintech Infrastructure & Deeptech

While the fund follows a sector-agnostic structure, its investment focus is clearly tilted toward long-term structural themes shaping India’s next economic decade.

According to the company’s strategy commentary, the fund will prioritise sectors such as:

generative AI
fintech infrastructure
consumer technology
spacetech
defence innovation
precision manufacturing
healthcare
deeptech platforms

The emphasis on frontier technologies is notable because institutional venture capital in India is steadily moving away from broad consumer internet bets toward businesses with stronger technological and industrial capabilities.

This also aligns with India’s larger macro environment:

rising defence localisation
manufacturing incentives
AI-led enterprise digitisation
semiconductor and industrial policy support
growing demand for indigenous technology platforms

For investors, these sectors represent long-duration themes rather than short-term cyclical opportunities.

Four Startup Deals Already In Pipeline

Another significant detail is that the fund already has an active investment pipeline under evaluation.

According to the company, four deals are currently under discussion, including investments involving:

a hybrid-casual gaming company
a hot sauce consumer brand
a SaaS startup
a spacetech company building indigenous Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology

This mix reflects how the fund is balancing scalable consumer businesses with frontier technology and deeptech opportunities.

The inclusion of spacetech and indigenous radar technology is particularly noteworthy because India’s private aerospace ecosystem has started attracting serious investor attention following regulatory liberalisation and increasing strategic demand.

Co-Investment Opportunities For Strategic Investors

The fund also plans to offer co-investment opportunities to strategic partners.

For HNI and UHNI investors, this could become one of the more attractive elements of the strategy.

Co-investment structures often allow sophisticated investors to participate selectively in high-conviction opportunities alongside institutional capital platforms.

As private market investing becomes more mainstream among affluent Indian investors, curated access and manager quality are increasingly becoming key differentiators.

Why This Launch Matters

360 ONE’s entry into early-stage venture capital reflects a broader evolution taking place across India’s wealth and alternative investment ecosystem.

Affluent investors are steadily increasing allocations toward:

venture capital
private equity
pre-IPO opportunities
private credit
thematic AIFs

The shift is largely driven by a search for differentiated returns, long-term wealth creation, and access to innovation before businesses become public market stories.

Importantly, this fund is launching at a time when startup valuations have become far more disciplined compared to the excess liquidity cycle of 2021.

That reset has pushed venture investors to focus more on:

profitability visibility
governance standards
capital efficiency
sustainable scaling models

For long-term investors, that creates a healthier institutional backdrop for early-stage investing.

The Bigger Picture For 360 ONE

The ₹500 crore VC fund ultimately signals how aggressively 360 ONE is expanding its alternatives ecosystem.

The firm is steadily positioning itself not just as a wealth advisory platform, but as a broader private markets institution spanning:

venture capital
private equity
structured investments
public market alternatives
long-duration thematic opportunities

And as India’s startup ecosystem matures further, platforms capable of supporting founders from seed stage to scale could become increasingly influential in shaping the country’s next generation of high-growth businesses.

For HNI and UHNI investors, that makes 360 ONE Asset’s latest strategy a closely watched development in India’s growing alternative investment era.