A new India-focused AI investment fund is set to back startups building next-generation commerce and retail technologies. The initiative comes as investors increasingly shift attention towards agentic AI platforms capable of automating business decisions across ecommerce and supply chain operations.
US-based venture capital firm Silicon Road Ventures has partnered with veteran banker Ajay Mahajan to launch a Rs 150 crore Alternative Investment Fund focused on AI-driven commerce startups in India. The Sebi-registered Category-II AIF will support early-stage companies working in ecommerce, logistics, supply chain, fintech, consumer insights, and retail operations.
Ajay Mahajan, who has previously held leadership roles at Bank of America, Yes Bank, UBS and IDFC Bank, said the fund will remain sharply focused on commerce technology and avoid capital-intensive sectors.
“We will not fund capex companies, we will not fund drones, we will not fund defence, we will not fund anything that is capex driven,” Mahajan said. “We won’t fund healthcare, we won’t fund any other sector than retail, ecommerce and CPG.”
The fund is targeting startups developing agentic AI systems that can automate decision-making in areas such as pricing, inventory allocation, marketing spending, and retail workflows. Mahajan said the industry is rapidly moving beyond AI-powered analytics toward autonomous software systems capable of executing business functions with minimal human intervention.
“There are companies that are doing so much work in that space,” he said. “It is agentic all the way.”
According to Mahajan, the firm evaluates nearly 400 startups every year but plans to invest in only 4 to 6 companies annually.
Founded by Sid Mookerji, Silicon Road Ventures has previously launched 3 funds in the US, including a $31 million seed fund and a $64 million opportunity fund. Mookerji earlier built retail technology company Software Paradigms International, which was acquired by Cognizant in 2018.
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