Athera Venture Partners (formerly Inventus India)

Congratulations, Deepesh, Akash & Team MoveInSync! Nice to see another feather in your cap, as you build a lasting company founded on the pillars of the highest ethics, a relentless focus on customers, and a great employee culture. Wishing you even more success in the years to come. Athera Venture Partners (formerly Inventus India), Parag Dhol, Rutvik Doshi, Rajiv Mehta, Ishan Sinha, Anshu Pandey, Tanya Sequeira, Mangala Jois.

Ankit Prasad has spent several years thinking about something many platforms may take for granted: how people actually express themselves. In our November Odyssey issue, the founder of Bobble AI unpacks how keyboards, voice, and AI are becoming the infrastructure of India's private social lives -- removed from the public broadcast logic of feeds and virality. 💻 In this conversation, he spoke about: • Why the keyboard has evolved from a utility to a "context-aware, multilingual expression layer" that understands emotion and culture. • How social interactions are shifting from public broadcasting to intimate bonding through reciprocal loops of emotion. • The powerful link between regional language expression and digital confidence for millions of users. • Why voice is the "native interface" and a growing frontier for India's next billion users. • His vision for an AI-driven future where conversations become predictive, assistive, and emotionally intelligent. Check out highlights from the conversation below, and read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gYNYDbRz This month’s edition also includes Pathways, our recurring reading arc where we turn to Robert Shiller's work on narratives, psychology, and markets, and why stories often move behaviour faster than data. #VentureCapital #IndianStartups #ConsumerTech #AI #SocialTech

📱📲 Mayank Bidawatka is flipping the script on social media by solving a problem we all have: the unseen photos of us that live on other people's phones. In our recent Odyssey issue, he shares the philosophy behind PicSee -- a mutual photo-sharing app designed for private reciprocity and building a "personal memories network." In this conversation, he spoke to us about: • The core human incentive quandary: "If people don’t benefit from doing a particular action, they stop doing that action." • Why the shift to private circles isn't a new, ephemeral trend or fad, but a natural correction that was "always a need." • The foundational "two envelopes" test that reveals humans' innate desire to put themselves first. • Building a "smaller unit app" for your closest gang or unit, in contrast to the anxiety of larger, chaotic public feeds. • His goal: using technology to deliver happiness by unlocking people's past memories. Check out highlights from the conversation below, and read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gYNYDbRz #SocialMedia #ConsumerTech #Startups #VentureCapital #PicSee

📱 Manohar Charan has helped steer ShareChat to 200 million+ monetisable users and cash-flow positivity by understanding fundamental shifts in social behaviour. In our recent Odyssey issue, he decodes how the platform is navigating the move from mass social broadcasting to intimate, language-first communities that foster real connection. In this conversation, he spoke about: • How the shift to micro-communities "redefines where real engagement happens." • Why the investment focus for a scaled platform is now on "reinforcing foundations" over chasing users. • The data point revealing the next growth wave: 57% of metro users prefer regional languages. • Debunking the myth of the "passive" Bharat user, and the vibrant creator economy emerging from non-metro India. • Why building for India means building for its vast diversity and translating that complexity into simple, meaningful interactions. Check out highlights from the conversation below, and read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gYNYDbRz #SocialMedia #ConsumerTech #IndianStartups #ShareChat #VentureCapital #DigitalIndia

🚨 What if the next decade of social isn't about building bigger stages, but more comfortable "living rooms"? Our November Odyssey issue explores "The New Wave of Social" where users are increasingly trading the broadcast megaphone for the intimacy of a whisper network. We unpack the data and founder insights behind the move to smaller, more reciprocal spaces. For this edition, we spoke to: • Manohar Charan (ShareChat & Moj) on the "maintenance capex" for a 200M+ user community and why micro-communities are seeing sharper retention growth. • Mayank Bidawatka (PicSee) on solving the "incentive problem" of photo-sharing (and why people always choose the envelope with their own photos first!). • Ankit Prasad (Bobble AI) on how the keyboard became a cultural operating system for 100M Indians, with voice adoption growing to ~25% daily. Read the full issue here: https://lnkd.in/gYNYDbRz Samir Kumar | Parag Dhol | Rutvik Doshi | Rajiv Mehta | Anshu Pandey | Ishan Sinha | Tanya Sequeira | Kaushik A #Social #Tech #StartupIndia #VentureCapital #ConsumerInternet 

Suryaveersingh Bhullar is steering the fast-scaling rise of India's newest racket-sport phenomenon. In our recent Odyssey issue, he breaks down how pickleball has evolved from a pandemic-era pastime into a pan-India movement, with more than 2,000 courts and a community now running into lakhs. In this conversation, he spoke about: • Why the sport's "addictive" gameplay is pulling young people off screens and onto courts. • How pickleball has become a weekly social ritual for entire families, from 7-year-olds to 49-year-olds. • The compelling economics, where a court costing Rs. 3-5 lakh can see ROI in just a few months. • His belief that pickleball could become India's second-biggest sport after cricket. • The upcoming national league structured on the lines of an IPL-format for pickleball. Check out highlights from the conversation below, and read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gwDgjqVa #SportsBusiness #Pickleball #UrbanSports #IndianStartups #Community #SportsTech #VentureCapital

🚀 Big week for Cursor, big moment for us at Athera. In the few days since this session was first announced, Cursor has already raised another round and grown to $1B ARR! - and we get to host Aman, co founder of Cursor, just as this momentum hits full speed. Rutvik will be moderating a candid fireside with Aman on what it really takes to build, ship, and scale products that developers love. We’re genuinely excited (and proud) to be curating conversations like this. This one is not to be missed! Register now: https://lnkd.in/gpt783Z4 Samir Kumar | Rajiv Mehta | Parag Dhol | Ishan Sinha | Anshu Pandey | Tanya Sequeira | Kaushik A

An Ode to Resilience   The last few weeks brought the following developments:   1. Avaz got acquired by PRC-Saltillo, a global leader in the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) domain. https://lnkd.in/gZXYKGUn   2. Early investors in Lemnisk got a good exit – bought out by Bajaj Financial Services. https://lnkd.in/gRZ5-Yp6   While unaware of the precise numbers, these exits are not at a scale that the press discusses breathlessly for days on end. Yet, they illustrate a laudable characteristic in us humans.   I was involved in the investment in both these companies (in 2014 & 2010, respectively). These investments did not work out.   Members from the management team took over, recapitalised them, refocussed on the task at hand, and made the companies work.   Such efforts, I view as more laudable than the home-runs that some of us have had the fortune of being involved in. The teams, in these cases, worked against the luck factor. As a side note, do read Warren Buffett’s latest letter – an incredibly wise man acknowledging lady luck’s role in his life, with amazing grace.       My sincere congratulations, and continued good wishes, to Narayanan at Avaz Inc.; and Subra, Rinku & Praveen at Lemnisk.

Vivek B Singh has had a ringside seat to India's running revolution for 38 years. In our latest Odyssey issue, he traces the entire arc of the sports landscape, from a barren ecosystem to a booming experience economy. In this conversation, he spoke about: • The single inflection point that changed everything -- the 2004 Mumbai Marathon, where 18,000 people showed up on a Sunday morning to run. "Never heard of before." • How running became India's largest sporting philanthropy platform, raising over Rs. 483 crores and building a "bridge of trust" for civil society. • The staggering numbers of the running economy: 2.8 million active runners creating a $450 million ecosystem today, and the potential if that number hits 28 million. • Why running is the "mothership" of participatory sport, spawning new streams like Hyrox, duathlons, and triathlons. • His conviction that the "good old days of sport" are happening right now. Check out highlights from the conversation below, and read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gwDgjqVa #SportsBusiness #Marathon #MassParticipation #IndianEconomy #Procam #ExperienceEconomy