https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-124215437,width-1200,height-630,imgsize-50268,overlay-etmarkets/articleshow.jpg
The fund focused on the fast-growing Employee Secondaries market will help startup staff cash out part of their stock while giving High-net-worth individuals (HNI) and family offices access to VC-backed firms.
The fund will back 30-40 startups across fintech, SaaS, AI, consumer, and digital sectors with investments of Rs1-4 crore, the firm said. Structured with a Rs 100 crore base corpus and a Rs 100 crore green-shoe option, Ironclad said it will partner with VC-backed startups to enable structured ESOP monetization.
Founder Krishna Killa, a former private equity investor at Bain Capital said, “Ironclad Ventures is designed to solve a critical gap in the Indian startup ecosystem-the low belief in ESOPs at early stages due to lack of liquidity.”
He added that instead of employees treating ESOPs as “paper money,” the firm will buy a small portion of ESOPs every quarter in a structured way.
The firm said the approach will allow companies to rely more on ESOPs rather than increasing salaries, ultimately improving hiring, retention, and employee alignment with company growth. For employees,they get a steady cash flow without diluting the majority of their ESOPs.As part of this initiative, the fund is onboarding operators and investors in an advisory capacity. Arpit Maheshwari, former venture capitalist at Stellaris Venture Partners, and Shrey Badhani, Co-Founder of Kapiva Ayurveda have been roped in.“Their perspectives across company building, brand scaling, venture investing, and ESOP structuring will complement Ironclad’s efforts to deliver value beyond capital,” the investment firm said.
as a Reliable and Trusted News SourceIronclad Ventures is the firm’s second product, the first, Flexicap PMS launched in early 2025, focusing on long-term investments in financial, consumer, and tech companies in the country. As per the company the fund delivered 20.1% returns to date.
