Pearl Agarwal, founder and managing partner, Eximius Ventures

Founded in 2021, Eximius Ventures has carved out a distinct identity as a pre-seed investment firm betting on founders solving India-first problems. With its first $10-million fund already 60 per cent deployed and a second $30-million fund in the works, the firm is doubling down on emerging sectors like fintech, consumer-tech, artificial intelligence, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). Pearl Agarwal, founder and managing partner, Eximius Ventures, outlines the venture capital firm’s thesis, exit lens, and distinguishing features in an increasingly crowded early-stage market.

How much capital have you raised so far?

We launched our first fund of $10 million in 2021, and have already deployed over 60 per cent across 24 companies. In late 2024, we began raising our second fund of $30 million. We completed the first close in February, and are actively raising to reach the full corpus.

What’s the current strength of your portfolio?

We have around 30 companies across both funds — 24 from Fund 1 and five from Fund 2. Encouragingly, about 60 per cent of our Fund 1 companies have gone on to raise follow-on rounds, which signals strong product-market fit and growth momentum.

Which sectors are you bullish on?

We’re focused on three core areas: fintech, consumer-tech, and AI-led SaaS. In fintech, we see massive headroom — with only about 300 million of India’s 1.5 billion people on digital payments, the next billion users remain largely untapped. In consumer-tech, the rise of auto-UPI and AI-powered content discovery is creating space for monetisable platforms. And in AI/SaaS, both infrastructure and vertical applications are booming — especially in financial services compliance and MSME (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) productivity tools.

What’s your investment approach at the pre-seed stage?

We write cheques of $500,000 to $1 million and maintain a strong reserve — more than 50 per cent of our capital — for follow-ons. We take a thesis-driven, hands-on approach, helping founders with hiring, GTM (go-to-market strategy), fundraising, and strategic planning from day one. Our goal is to institutionalise early-stage investing, bringing rigour typically seen in later stages.

What’s the average holding period you target, and have you had any exits?

Our holding period is typically 4–5 years. Since we’re a young fund, with an average portfolio age of under 24 months, we haven’t had exits yet, but we’re optimistic about achieving a few by end-2025. Our preferred exit window is between Series B and Series C, aiming for a 5x return.

What kind of companies excite you the most today?

Startups that solve for structural India challenges — like financial inclusion, AI-driven operational efficiency, or monetising digital-first consumer behaviour. We’re seeing strong founders emerge from Tier-2 cities, building for scale. That’s where we think the next breakout stories will come from.