Investors who write the earliest cheques, before metrics are clean and the round is crowded.
Pre-seed and day-zero investors specialise in conviction before proof. They back teams with a sharp insight, early product or prototype, and enough signal to justify the first institutional or angel cheque. Speed, founder quality, and problem obsession matter more than polished dashboards.
In India this capital often comes from micro-VCs, angels, and seed funds that reserve for the next round. Ask how fast they decide, what a strong first cheque looks like, and whether they lead or prefer to follow a lead.
Pitch tightly: why this team, why this wedge, why now. Overbuilding the data room at day-zero can signal you are optimizing the wrong thing.
Be the 'Y Combinator of India', provide initial capital plus committed follow-on to idea-stage startups, supporting them across their first three funding rounds before connecting them to large VCs for growth capital.
$250K – $3MInvest in 100 companies per year at pre-product stage and help them reach their next milestone
$25K – $250KInvest in founders from emerging countries building global businesses
$100K – $500K