Alacrity India Fund

Go Global. Go Global Fast.

Managed by Alacrity India

IN/AIF1/18-19/0534Cat I

SEBI-encouraged funds — venture capital, SME, social-impact and infrastructure. Close-ended, generally unleveraged.

Overview

About

Alacrity India Fund is a Category I AIF (Venture Capital Fund) registered with SEBI in April 2018, focused on early-stage B2B SaaS and technology startups in India. It is the first institutional VC fund headquartered in Pune, and is part of the global Alacrity Global ecosystem — a network of micro-funds (typically $10M–$20M each) backed by Sir Terry Matthews' Wesley Clover International operating across Canada, UK, France, Turkey, Mexico, China, Indonesia, and Singapore. The India fund was co-promoted by Wesley Clover International and Ideas to Impacts Innovations Pvt. Ltd., the Pune-based company founded by Gireendra Kasmalkar. The fund had a target corpus of $10M and planned to invest in up to 30 early-stage startups over five years, with ticket sizes up to $750K per company. The fund also operated a 13,000 sq. ft. incubator/accelerator at the Ideas to Impacts Hub in Baner, Pune. As of 2024, the fund has evolved and the programme has transitioned; the alacrityindia.com website now shows a wind-down notice, with activity continuing under the Pentathlon Ventures brand managed by Gireendra Kasmalkar.

Investment Philosophy

Alacrity India's investment thesis was rooted in the Alacrity Global model: customer-first investing, where a customer need is identified before a company is formed, rather than backing a solution in search of a market. The fund focused exclusively on B2B SaaS and deep tech startups, particularly those leveraging India Stack (UPI, Aadhaar, etc.) to build globally scalable products from India. A key differentiator was access to the Wesley Clover global network — 50+ portfolio companies worldwide — for technology licensing, reseller relationships, and international market access. The fund also championed a 'non-metro' philosophy, deliberately basing itself in Pune rather than Mumbai, Bangalore, or Delhi, believing that quality tech talent exists beyond the metros. Industry Partners (LPs) were expected to actively participate in building portfolio companies, not just provide capital.

Team— 5

Gireendra Kasmalkar

Lead Investor & General Partner

Gireendra Kasmalkar is the Lead Investor and General Partner of Alacrity India Fund, and the Founder, Director & CEO of Ideas to Impacts Innovations Pvt. Ltd. — the fund's investment manager. A Mechanical Engineer from IIT Bombay (1987) and the University of South Carolina (1989), Gireendra began his career at TCS before founding VeriSoft, one of India's earliest independent software testing companies, which was acquired by SQS Software Quality Systems AG. He went on to serve as MD & CEO of SQS India and was on the boards of SQS India BFSI (listed on NSE and BSE) and SQS USA. Post-SQS, he founded Ideas to Impacts, pioneering a 'small town model' of distributed tech services delivery across non-metro India. He also serves as a Director and President of the Executive Council at the Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre (i4C). He has since rebranded his fund activities under Pentathlon Ventures, where he continues as Managing Partner.

Saurabh Lahoti

Partner

Saurabh Lahoti is a Partner at Alacrity India Fund, working alongside Gireendra Kasmalkar at the Ideas to Impacts Hub in Pune.

Tushar Shetty

CEO – Ideas to Impacts Hub / Operations

Tushar Shetty is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ideas to Impacts Hub, the incubator/accelerator co-located with the Alacrity India Fund at Baner, Pune. He leads day-to-day operations of the hub and startup programmes.

Sir Terry Matthews

Co-Promoter / Strategic Backer (Wesley Clover International)

Sir Terry Matthews is the Welsh-Canadian serial entrepreneur and Chairman of Wesley Clover International — the Canada-based investment management firm that co-promoted the Alacrity India Fund. He founded Mitel in 1972 (now Europe's leading business communications company) and has since funded 100+ high-tech companies with over 50 exits, deploying $400M+ and generating $3.5Bn+ in cumulative returns. He is the creator of the Alacrity Global model, a network of micro-funds across 10+ countries designed to build tech startups using a customer-first methodology.

Registration

SEBI Registration

SEBI-registered

Reg. NumberIN/AIF1/18-19/0534

VintageApr 2018 · 8 yrs old

Valid ToPerpetual

Contact PersonVikas Agarwal

AddressKondan 11/2, Gananjay Housing Society, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra, 411030

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