gradCapital

gradCapital sources founders while they are still enrolled in university, before incorporation or revenue milestones would attract conventional seed funds. Its principal sourcing channel is the network effect of its residency program on the Indian Institute of Science campus, combined with direct outreach to student teams at India's technical universities. Because the firm does not rely on broker introductions or demo-day pipelines, its deal flow is skewed toward technically dense ideas that faculty and lab peers have already pressure-tested informally.

gradCapital writes a standard $40K check into each portfolio company. The investment is paired with a six-month residency on the Indian Institute of Science campus, during which the firm provides workspace, mentorship, and operational support. The firm does not participate in larger follow-on rounds and does not syndicate its early-stage checks with external co-investors, per its publicly described model.

gradCapital occupies a hybrid category. It makes equity investments like a venture fund, but its six-month campus residency and hands-on operational support resemble an accelerator. Unlike most accelerators, it does not run cohorts in batches with demo-day outcomes, and unlike most venture funds, it does not reserve capital for follow-on investments. The firm's public communications describe it as a fund, but its operational footprint aligns more closely with a university-affiliated startup studio.

gradCapital is sector-agnostic in its public positioning and has backed student teams in health tech, climate, and developer tools. The unifying filter is not industry vertical but founder profile: the firm invests in technically trained students building inside Indian universities. The IISc campus environment gives it a natural tilt toward deep-tech and research-adjacent ideas, even though no formal sector exclusion is stated.

gradCapital does not publicly disclose assets under management, fund size, or limited partner identities. No Securities and Exchange Board of India filings have been located that would clarify the capital base, and the firm does not appear in major venture-fund databases with verified AUM figures. Any external estimate would require direct confirmation from the firm or its LPs.