6.6%
India real GDP growth, 2025P
Fastest-growing major economy. World avg 3.3%, China 4.8%, US 1.7%.
Source · IMF
Fund I · India · Pre-seed & Seed
Capital is a commodity. Conviction isn’t.
Operator-led. India-first. AI-native.
Pratyaya Capital is a $5M pre-seed and seed fund backing founders building AI-native consumer, commerce, and digital platforms in India. Our partners have built Bombay Shaving Company, Pilgrim, Naturis Cosmetics, and Nazara Technologies. We’ve sat where you sit.
Pratyaya · प्रत्यय · Firm conviction
The macro · By the numbers
India is the only large economy
with all three forces stacking.
Demographic dividend, payments-and-identity rails no other large economy has, and the global pricing collapse of intelligence — all inside the same five-year window. The four numbers below are why we’re deploying Fund I now, not later.
$4.5 Tn
India market cap, Jan 2025
4th globally — behind only US ($60.8T), the Mag 7 ($11.7T), China ($9.9T), Japan ($6.5T).
Source · Jefferies
$2.1 Tn
India consumption market
5th largest globally · 60.3% of GDP. 10-yr CAGR 7.2% — highest among major economies.
Source · UBS
$1,493
Per-capita consumption, 2023
Where China was in 2010. Indonesia: $2,656. China: $4,936.
Source · World Bank
India · #4 globally
India’s market cap is bigger than seven Magnificents stacked, and bigger than the UK and Brazil combined.
United States
$60.8T
United States
$60.8T
The Magnificent 7
$11.7T
The Magnificent 7
$11.7T
Apple · Microsoft · Nvidia · Alphabet · Amazon · Meta · Tesla
China
$9.9T
China
$9.9T
Japan
$6.5T
Japan
$6.5T
India
$4.5T
India
$4.5T
↑ from 7th in 2014
United Kingdom
$3.2T
United Kingdom
$3.2T
Brazil
$0.7T
Brazil
$0.7T
Total market cap, USD trillion · Source: Jefferies · As of Jan 2025
Read the macro thesis →
Sources cited per stat
What we back
Four pillars.
Sharp by design.
We invest where AI compounds unit economics — and where the founder is already ahead of the curve. If your company doesn’t fit one of these four, the honest answer is no, and we’d rather you spend the time on a fund that fits.
- 01
Agentic AI
Software that takes actions on behalf of a user, end-to-end, with judgment — not wrappers a model upgrade can erase.
- ·Vertical agents in regulated workflows
- ·Voice agents replacing call centers
- ·Evals, tool-use, agent memory
- 02
AI-native consumer & commerce
Brands and commerce surfaces where AI rewrites the unit economics from launch — not bolted onto a 2021 playbook.
- ·Model-powered CX from day one
- ·Conversational commerce + checkout
- ·Creator platforms with 10× cheaper production
- 03
Platforms beyond software
The next interface isn't a screen — it's voice in Indic languages, ambient compute, hardware with a model inside.
- ·Indic-language voice platforms
- ·Ambient AI in cars and homes
- ·Hardware where the model is the product
- 04
AI in healthcare
Where AI compresses the cost of care for a billion people — diagnostics, workflow, and delivery, not a wellness app.
- ·Diagnostics outside metros
- ·Clinical workflow automation
- ·AI-mediated chronic-care delivery
Fund I · 4 pillars · India-only
The operators
The cheque is signed by
the operator.
Five founding partners, one advisor. Every cheque is paired with an operator who has built, scaled, or exited the kind of company the founder is now building. We sit where you sit.
Pratik Ratnaparkhi
NextSchool · Govt of South Africa
Founding partner. Shipped AI agent systems across education, health, and ops.
Shantanu Deshpande
Bombay Shaving Company
Built BSC + Bombae to ₹600 Cr+ revenue · India's #2 shaving brand.
Anurag Kedia
Pilgrim
Co-founder/CEO · targeting ₹1,000 Cr ARR · $20M Series B.
Rahul Tandon
Naturis Cosmetics
CEO · ₹155 Cr revenue · exports to 5 regions (IN/SEA/ME/EU/US).
Nitish Mittersain
Nazara Technologies
Founder/Joint MD · India's only listed gaming & digital-ent. co · IPO ₹583 Cr (2021).
- 5 founding partners
- 1 listed company
- ₹1,300 Cr+ revenue led collectively
- IIT Bombay · IIT Delhi · IIM-A · IIM-L
- 1 advisor · IPV co-founder
Mumbai · India
H1 2026 read live · Volume I drops Q4 2026
The Operator’s Index
An annual report on how India’s best operators are building with AI. The H1 essay is live now in Insights. Volume I — case studies, playbooks, and what we’re funding next — drops Q4 2026. Free with email signup.
How we work
01
Submit your pitch.
Deck plus a one-line problem statement. That’s the bar.
02
We respond in 2 business days.
No silent treatment. Ever.
03
Decision in 21 days.
Lead, follow, or an honest pass with reasoning.
Beyond capital
Performance marketing teardowns
Shantanu · Bombay Shaving
D2C scale playbook
Anurag · Pilgrim
Manufacturing and private-label unlock
Rahul · Naturis
Platform building and public-markets prep
Nitish · Nazara