Aureolis Ventures

Aureolis Ventures is a Mumbai-based early-stage venture firm founded in 2017 by Paula Mariwala, one of the pioneering women venture capitalists in India. A Stanford-educated physicist and technologist, Mariwala has been shaping the country's startup ecosystem since 2006 — she is the founder and President Emeritus of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India, the former Managing Director of Seedfund (one of India's first venture funds), and a promoter director of the Hinditron Group. Aureolis partners with global teams on a mission to solve significant problems, focusing on climate change, health, deep tech, education and consumer, and invests across pre-seed, seed and Series A. The firm takes a founder-first, impact-oriented approach and is an active participant in gender-lens investing, looking beyond female founders to companies whose products and workplaces benefit women. Its portfolio spans 49 companies, including the unicorn Unacademy, alongside agritech firm Fasal, warehouse-robotics company Unbox Robotics and digital-health platform Zyla Health. Mariwala's broader 25-year investing career includes notable exits such as RedBus, Carwale and TapChief, giving her deep experience across the full venture lifecycle from sourcing to exit. Backed by a small, hands-on team of around twelve including co-founders Jo Pattabiraman and Ruchi Jain Hanasoge, Aureolis offers portfolio founders close mentorship and access to global networks to help them scale with impact.