Sorin Investments set to launch second fund with a ₹2,000 crore corpus
Sanjay Nayar-led Sorin Investments is preparing to raise about ₹2,000 crore for its second fund as startup investing revives, with AI, deep-tech and space tech among areas it may expand into.
Summary
Sanjay Nayar-led Sorin Investments is preparing to raise about ₹2,000 crore for its second fund as startup investing revives, with AI, deep-tech and space tech among areas it may expand into.
Sorin Investments, which focuses on backing early-stage startups, is seeking to raise about ₹2,000 crore for its second fund, according to three people familiar with the matter.
"The discussions are in the early stages. Sorin will officially begin preparations in the first quarter of the next calendar year—around the January-March 2027 period," one of the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity, as the discussions are still private.
The proposed corpus marks an increase from Sorin's maiden fund, which was sized at ₹1,350 crore and is yet to be fully deployed.
"About 60% of that fund has been deployed across 12 investments. The firm expects to make another five to seven deployments over the next few months," a second person familiar with the matter said.
While the investment thesis from the first fund is expected to remain largely unchanged, the firm may also evaluate investments in sectors such as deep-tech, space tech and AI for the second fund, a third person said, confirming the above details.
"We are focused on investing and helping our promising portfolio of companies build out sustainable businesses. We have no comments on future fund-raising plans," a spokesperson for Sorin said.
This development comes as private equity and venture capital fundraising have gained momentum with several large investment firms such as Elevation Capital, Fundamentum, Transition VC and Exfinity Venture Partners launching funds since the beginning of this year. While dealmaking is resuming after a lull, the fundraising strategies reflect a more selective and conservative approach as investors navigate valuation corrections.
Leadership team
Sorin was founded by Sanjay Nayar, the former chief executive officer of KKR India, who has served on the boards of several KKR portfolio companies. He has also held senior leadership roles at Citigroup and served as chairman of Avendus Capital. He is currently a non-executive director at Nykaa.
Nayar is joined by Angad Banga, who played a key role as the first external investor in Nykaa, helping steer the company from its Series A fundraising to its public listing in 2021. He serves as general partner at Sorin. Other senior executives include partners Subeer Monga and Mandar Dandekar.
Portfolio focus
Both the Nayar and Banga families invested in Sorin's first fund, launched in 2024. Other key limited partners included the Munjal family office and Self-Reliant India, with about 90% of the capital coming from domestic investors.
Sorin has maintained a largely sector-agnostic approach, investing across direct-to-consumer brands, fintech, enterprise marketplaces, SaaS, health-tech and consumer internet companies. The firm has completed four transactions since the beginning of this year.
These include a $4.6 million seed round in AI services company Aivar, led by Sorin alongside Bessemer Venture Partners; a $7 million Series A investment in pain management clinic Nivaan Care; and a $6.6 million Series A round led by Sorin in home-construction materials quick-commerce platform HomeRun. It also participated in debt-relief platform FREED's $6.6 million Series A round led by Aavishkaar Capital.
With a focus on startups from Series A to Series B stages, Sorin has also invested in companies including Enmovil, Spike AI, Beacon, The Pant Project, Shivalik Small Finance Bank, Litestore, Uniqus and Venwiz, according to its website. The firm typically writes cheques of ₹40-60 crore from its first fund.
About the Authors
Rwit Ghosh
Rwit is a correspondent at Mint covering India’s burgeoning startup ecosystem and the venture capital and private equity firms that back them. Sitting out of Bengaluru, he writes on the new-age tech businesses that the city and the rest of the country seems to continuously be birthing.
While Rwit’s interests lie in covering the new wave of deeptech, AI, SaaS and consumer tech businesses, he’ll write on consumer brands and fintech (if someone repeatedly explains these sectors to him).
When he’s not scrolling through the Indian startup forums on Reddit, Rwit is usually trying to figure out early signs of what’s to come next in the ecosystem. As a result, he’s been early to spot trends like VCs becoming more active in backing deeptech, funding bottlenecks for agentic AI startups and a potential revival in edtech through AI.
Prior to his ongoing stint at Mint, Rwit worked at NDTV Profit as a social media producer while also working on his own stories for the TV channel after he graduated from the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai.
When he’s not working on stories, he can be found trying to figure out where he should go to eat next in Bengaluru, or what his next tattoo should look like. If you see him in the wild, you should ask him how he pronounces his name. He’s definitely not tired of being asked about it.
Priyamvada C
Priyamvada is a Mumbai-based business journalist at Mint. She writes about the public and private markets with a key focus on venture capital, private equity, M&As and private credit. Her coverage also spans startups and emerging businesses.
Over the last two years, she has uncovered some of the largest deals and interviewed important decision-makers from India’s investment ecosystem. She likes to dabble across different formats like long forms and explainers. Her work has been consistently displayed on the publication's deals page, and she has also written multiple front-page stories.
Prior to joining Mint in 2024, she worked out of Reuters’ Bengaluru bureau where she extensively covered the travel, transportation, and logistics industries. Across both her stints, Priyamvada has displayed rigour for breaking news and analyzing interesting data-driven trends. She holds a postgraduate diploma from the Asian College of Journalism's Bloomberg programme. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and trying out different cuisines. She is keen to delve deeper into the various sectors she covers and is always up for a chat. You can reach out to her at priyamvada.c@livemint.com.
Source: Livemint — Companies
