Padmaja Ruparel
Co-founder - IAN Group, Senior Managing Partner
Current Alpha fund leadership, checked against manager and personal profile.
LinkedIn profile ↗INDIA / EARLY-STAGE TECHNOLOGY
Catalyst for changemakers.
Early-stage technology, patient capital and the wider IAN platform, with fund-vehicle boundaries kept explicit.
Connect NowCurrent manager cheque range$1M - $5M
December 2025 final close$100 million
Public reconstruction25 named relationships
Investing contacts and IC13 reviewed
01 / The fund
Technology with patient capital
IAN Alpha Fund is IAN Group's second VC fund, backing early-stage companies and MSMEs solving practical problems through technology, including India's strategic needs. Its current homepage states a $1M-$5M investment range. Deep tech is central, while the manager explicitly balances longer development cycles with shorter-cycle businesses. This is a thesis and public cheque range, not a promise of funding.
The December 2025 final-close announcement reports $100 million, following a December 2023 first close of INR 355 crore. Older About and biography text still carries the INR 1,000 crore / $125 million launch target and a $1M-$3M range. Those older targets are not substituted for the later close or current homepage terms.
The legal disclosure names IAN Alpha Trust, SEBI Category II registration IN/AIF2/22-23/1127, with Indian Angel Network Services Pvt Ltd as investment manager. Alpha is not the older Category I IAN Fund I, the evergreen IAN Angel Fund, or every investment made by IAN's angel members. Group-wide company counts, capital deployed and outcomes are not Alpha performance.
The Alpha site's full-portfolio link currently points to the older ian-fund.com site. That destination is not treated as an automatic Alpha holdings list.
Current manager terms ↗ · Final-close announcement ↗02 / Portfolio
Explore by sector
25 named public relationships: all 24 companies in the current Alpha homepage showcase, plus Noccarc, explicitly described as an Alpha investment in December 2025 Inc42 reporting. This is a public reconstruction, not an exhaustive legal holdings register or proof of current ownership.
Vehicle caveat: the showcase includes LearnTube, while the group's original January 2026 announcement names IAN Angel Fund. Other group announcements sometimes name only IAN or BioAngels. Showcase placement is retained without silently assigning every company to Alpha's legal scheme. IAN Fund I's Zypp exit and unrelated Angel Fund investments are not imported.
Every named relationship appears in the gallery. Company ownsites steer the sectors: ambulance booking is Others, autonomous-vehicle systems are Physical AI, microneedle drug delivery is BioTech, and metal additive manufacturing is Energy & Materials / advanced materials. Aquapulse's aquaculture and supply-chain services remain Others. No quantum company was verified. Noccarc uses a clear name label, not an invented logo.
BioTech 7
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
AI-based connectomics and personalized brain maps for clinical planning and research. MRI/fMRI-derived mapping, not generic consumer AI.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Develops dissolving microneedle patches for transdermal vaccine and biologics delivery. Its ownsite describes a delivery platform in development, not a verified approved immunotherapy.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Develops biotherapeutics engineered for stability and delivery, with diabetes, eye disease and cancer programs. Pipeline work is not blanket proof of approved room-temperature medicines.
Holding source ↗
Reported historical Alpha relationship; absent from current manager grid
ICU ventilators and patient monitors with connected-device software. The company names IAN among its backers; December 2025 Inc42 reporting specifically attributes a historical investment to Alpha.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
AI-powered preclinical drug discovery, combining computational screening with experimental work. Pipeline candidates are not marketed approved medicines.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Develops medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics. The ownsite describes a structured device-development process, rather than an ordinary health-record application.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Silk-based biomaterials for tissue repair, including wound dressings and bone-void fillers. Ownsite offers Seriderm and Serioss; product availability does not imply every pipeline application is approved.
Holding source ↗Energy & Materials 4
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Battery-cell design and manufacturing concepts intended to reduce heating and enable faster charging. Performance claims are company claims, not independent certification.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Agricultural-residue collection, biogas development, energy crops and organic manure, linking farm waste to bioenergy.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Sensor and software-based water monitoring, analytics and industrial water-efficiency management. Classified under Energy & Materials / climate infrastructure.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Develops an integrated metal additive-manufacturing system with proprietary feedstocks and software to make precision metal parts. Advanced manufacturing and materials, not a general-purpose robot.
Holding source ↗Space Tech 4
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Develops rotating-detonation engines for high-speed aerospace propulsion, with defence and space-access applications. Development goals are not independently verified hypersonic-flight achievements.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Full-stack satellite platforms, spacecraft solar arrays, launch integration and ground stations, with demonstrated and upcoming systems distinguished on its ownsite.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Uncrewed aerial vehicles for heavy-lift logistics, surveillance and defence applications.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Drone-delivery operations and airspace-management software. Specific delivery-time and scale claims remain company statements.
Holding source ↗Physical AI 2
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Autonomous mobile robots and control software for material movement in factories and warehouses.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Perception, control and automation for vehicles and industrial environments, including drive-by-wire and autonomy systems. Its ownsite supports Physical AI rather than the manager card's generic enterprise-software description.
Holding source ↗Semiconductors 2
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Fabless semiconductor development for connected electronic devices, including chip engineering and system design.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Reconfigurable, composable processor IP and silicon systems. Ownsite reports MuDRA silicon back from fabrication; not a claim of mass-market deployment.
Holding source ↗Others 6
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Technology-enabled aquaculture, farmer services, seafood quality and post-harvest supply-chain support. Not treated as a water-treatment materials platform or a biotechnology company without that evidence.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Ambulance booking and medical-transport network. The ownsite lists patient, ICU, pediatric and other ambulance services, not the roadside vehicle-assistance description in the manager card.
Holding source ↗
Alpha website showcase; original January 2026 group announcement says IAN Angel Fund, not Alpha
AI-supported learning and skills education. Ownsite application content is sparse in the readable check; manager description supplies the product summary.
Holding source ↗ · Original vehicle announcement ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Transportation planning, routing and logistics optimization software.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Sports live-streaming, remote production and grassroots broadcast software.
Holding source ↗
Current Alpha website portfolio showcase; exact scheme ownership not independently verified
Enterprise personalized AI-video generation and localization.
Holding source ↗03 / Team & connect
Investing team and committee
Sarika Saxena
Managing Partner
Current Alpha fund leadership, checked against manager and personal profile.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Rajnish Kapur
Managing Partner
Current Alpha fund leadership, checked against manager and personal profile.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Chintan Thakkar
Senior Managing Partner; Group CEO
Current Alpha fund leadership, checked against manager and personal profile.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Saurabh Srivastava
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Ajai Chowdhry
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Raman Roy
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Rakesh Rewari
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Pravin Rao
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Atul Batra
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Harish Mehta
Investment Committee member
Explicitly listed on the Alpha fund Investment Committee; personal headline may emphasize other roles.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Akshat Prakash
Principal
Early-stage deep-tech investments. Current IAN affiliation and recent personal podcast support the role.
LinkedIn profile ↗
Madhvi Gupta
VP & Principal
Venture diligence and investment evaluation. Current personal title reviewed; Alpha attribution comes from prior personal and public professional records.
LinkedIn profile ↗Reviewed 2 November 2026. Four investing leaders, two investment professionals and seven manager-listed Investment Committee members are shown separately through their role labels. IC membership is explicit on the manager page; it does not imply a full-time operating-partner role. Twelve personal LinkedIn portraits; Rakesh Rewari uses the official manager portrait because no usable personal-profile image was visible. Madhvi's current personal page confirms VP & Principal and venture work; its limited view did not expose the current employer field, so Alpha attribution is qualified by her prior personal post and public professional records. Akshat's current IAN affiliation, recent personal podcast and May 2026 event support his Principal role.
Managing Partner and CFO Madhav Sikka is excluded from founder-facing investment contacts because the reviewed biography describes finance, legal, treasury and support rather than investment duties. The separate advisory board, operations staff, and junior contacts whose current work is specifically IAN Angel Fund are not promoted into Alpha decision-makers or LPs.
Official people and contact route ↗04 / Fund network
Limited partners and backing channels
Nine institutional lineages are named in the manager's December 2025 final-close notice. Amounts and individual allocation terms were not disclosed. Fund-of-funds schemes are not duplicated as their managers.
DPIIT Fund of Funds for Startups
Named final-close backing channel
Government-backed LP channel, managed by SIDBI. The scheme and its manager are one lineage, not two independent LPs.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗Self Reliant India Fund
Named final-close backing channel
Government-backed fund-of-funds channel named in the final close.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗ACE Fund
Named final-close backing channel
Government-backed LP channel named in the final close; commitment amount not disclosed.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗Odisha Startup Growth Fund
Named final-close backing channel
State-backed LP channel named in the final close.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗AgriSure Fund of Funds Scheme
Named final-close backing channel
Named LP channel managed by NABVENTURES. Not counted again as a separate NABVENTURES LP.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗Buimerc Corporation, Dubai
Named final-close backing channel
Institutional investor named in the final-close announcement.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗HDFC Life
Named final-close backing channel
Institutional investor named in the final-close announcement.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗DS Group Family Office
Named final-close backing channel
Family-office investor named in the final-close announcement; not a claim that every DS entity invests.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗NABARD
Named final-close backing channel
Named separately in the final-close notice. Its relationship to the AgriSure ecosystem is preserved; no claim of nine wholly independent capital sources or summed commitments.
Manager final-close disclosure ↗Chandrashekar Kupperi
Publicly described investor in the fund
His official Antoine Capital biography explicitly says he has invested in IAN Alpha Fund among early-stage VC funds. The exact scheme, amount, subscription date and current exposure are not disclosed. His personal LinkedIn page was checked, but a current Alpha LP experience row was not visible, so that is not claimed as verified.
Official professional biography ↗ · Personal profile ↗Manager, trustee, adviser, committee, co-investor and portfolio-company roles are not themselves LP evidence. These named relationships are not a complete LP register.