Venture capital investor Ashish Kumar has launched F2A (Fundamentum Frontier Advisors), a frontier-tech investment platform, after receiving Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approval for Fundamentum III—AI and DeepTech, a ₹2,000 crore fund. According to reports from Business Standard, the platform is backed by institutional and individual investors, including anchor investor Nandan Nilekani. F2A will also oversee up to ₹1,000 crore in parallel co-investments and back startups building in consumer, enterprise, and physical AI.
As reported by Business Standard, Kumar stated that the platform is positioned to capitalize on a structural shift in how AI and DeepTech are being built and adopted across sectors. He emphasized that India has the right combination of talent, ambition, policy, and capital, creating the optimal moment to dedicate institutional focus to companies building at the frontier. Nandan Nilekani, the anchor investor, expressed excitement about supporting technology-led innovation and the platform's focus on long-term value creation.
According to Business Standard, Debraj Banerjee has joined F2A as general partner and will co-lead the platform's AI and deep-tech investment strategy. Banerjee brings two decades of experience across venture capital, institutional finance, and technology businesses, most recently serving as senior fund manager and investment committee member at SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd. His investment portfolio includes AI and deep-tech startups such as QpiAI, Digantara, SigTuple, and Myelin Foundry, alongside consumer brands like Vahdam and DrinkPrime.
As reported by Business Standard, Banerjee noted that the platform is positioned at an inflection point where AI and DeepTech are moving from experimentation to scaled adoption across sectors. He believes India is poised to build globally relevant technology-led businesses over the next decade, drawing parallels to similar adoption cycles observed in more mature markets such as the US across industries including utilities, BFSI, manufacturing, and frontier technology.
According to Business Standard, Fundamentum Partnership was co-founded by Nandan Nilekani along with other investors in 2017. The firm focuses on backing technology-driven companies operating in large and evolving markets, partnering with founders to build enduring businesses through a long-term, disciplined investment approach. Kumar has previously backed consumer-tech startups including Spinny, Kuku FM, AppsForBharat, and Wishlink, as well as enterprise-tech companies FarEye, Whizzo, and GenieMode.
