Inventus Capital Partners

Inventus invests exclusively across the United States-India corridor, a mandate it has maintained since its 2007 founding. The firm runs separate fund vehicles for each geography, with investment committees that can approve deals locally rather than routing all decisions through a single headquarters. This structure reflects the founders' thesis that Indian enterprise startups can sell globally from inception, and it gives Inventus early access to company formation in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai before larger US funds typically arrive.

Investment decisions are led by the three co-founding Managing Directors: Kanwal Rekhi, Samir Kumar and John Dougery. Rekhi, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded networking company Excelan before its IPO and sale to Novell, brings deep operating experience to the partnership. The trio has worked together since the firm's inception in 2007, giving the partnership unusually low GP turnover for a cross-border venture firm.

Inventus typically leads or co-leads seed and Series A rounds, writing initial checks between $1 million and $5 million. The firm maintains reserves for follow-on investments through growth stages, though its primary posture is that of an early-stage lead rather than a passive participant in syndicated rounds. Portfolio companies have included PolicyBazaar, which went public in 2021, and MoveInSync, acquired by a strategic buyer in 2025.

Kanwal Rekhi was a founding member and former president of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), the global network supporting Indian-origin founders. While Inventus operates independently of TiE as a fiduciary manager of LP capital, Rekhi's role in TiE's formation gives the partnership deep visibility into the Indian diaspora founder community — an origination advantage that purely institutional firms cannot easily replicate.

Inventus does not invest in consumer internet, hardware, or capital-intensive sectors such as clean-tech manufacturing. The firm has consistently avoided India's consumer-app and e-commerce races, focusing instead on enterprise software, SaaS, AI/ML infrastructure, digital health and fintech where founders sell to business buyers rather than chasing network-effect consumer plays.

Inventus typically encourages its India-based portfolio companies to incorporate a US parent entity early, a practice that simplifies follow-on fundraising from US-based VCs and eventual exit through acquisition or IPO on Western exchanges. The firm's parallel fund structure means it can invest from either its US or India vehicle depending on the tax and regulatory profile of each deal.

The firm reserves capital for follow-on investments from each fund vintage and has demonstrated willingness to deploy across its parallel vehicles when an India-based company opens a US subsidiary — or vice versa. This cross-fund follow-on capability is uncommon among venture firms that maintain strict geographic silos and represents a structural advantage for founders pursuing dual-market strategies.