NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — Billionaire entrepreneur Siddharth Shankar has invested $500,000 in Arya Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital fund that backs Indian-origin founders in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Shankar, the Global Chief Operating Officer of Komerz, announced the investment through social media. His commitment marks a major milestone for the $10 million fund, which entrepreneur Anmol Goel founded to support early-stage tech companies.
Shankar said he believes the time is right to double down on the Indian diaspora’s growing impact on global technology. He highlighted the strong performance of Indian-origin founders who have built major companies across the US and UK. He also noted that Arya Ventures’ current portfolio is already showing promising returns and attracting new investors at higher valuations.
Arya Ventures’ investment thesis rests on striking market data. Indian immigrants have founded or co-founded 72 of the 358 unicorns created in the US since 2018. These companies hold a combined value of more than $195 billion. Although Indian immigrants make up only 2.1 percent of the US population, they have created 19 percent of the country’s unicorns.
In the UK, Indian-origin businesses generate nearly $46 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 174,000 people. These figures point to the growing role of Indian entrepreneurs in shaping the global tech economy.
Shankar said that Indian founders have a record of building category-defining products. He believes that funds like Arya Ventures can tap into this momentum and help accelerate the next wave of tech innovation.
In announcing his investment, Shankar mentioned several Indian-origin founders who have built multiple unicorns. They include Mohit Aron of Nutanix and Cohesity, Jyoti Bansal of AppDynamics and Harness, and Ashutosh Garg of Bloomreach and Eightfold.ai. He wrote that the “talent is undeniable” and that the “timing is perfect” to support the next generation of Indian diaspora entrepreneurs.
Shankar himself has built successful companies, including the Tails Group, which has reached unicorn status. His support adds further credibility to Arya Ventures’ mission.
Arya Ventures focuses on AI startups and emerging technology sectors. The fund aims to support post-product, post-revenue companies led by Indian diaspora founders. Its team is currently reviewing several high-potential startups, including some backed by Y Combinator and other leading venture capital firms.
The data behind Arya’s strategy points to a robust talent pipeline. About 78 percent of Indian Americans hold at least a bachelor’s degree. This figure is more than double the US national average. Indian professionals also received more than 320,000 work visas between 2022 and 2023. Today, they make up 73 percent of high-skilled visa holders in the US.
Goel said this concentration of talent makes Indian-origin founders uniquely positioned to build high-growth technology companies. He added that 85 percent of the most highly educated startup founders come from the Indian diaspora. He also noted that 32 percent of the founders of Fortune 100 companies are of Indian origin.
With strong data and growing investor support, Arya Ventures plans to expand its portfolio in the coming months. The fund aims to capture early opportunities in AI, deep tech, and other fast-growing sectors. Goel said success in early-stage investing depends on identifying exceptional founders, and the fund is confident in its focus on Indian-origin talent.
Shankar’s investment signals rising confidence in diaspora-led innovation. As more Indian-origin founders launch startups in global markets, funds like Arya Ventures hope to play a key role in building the next generation of tech leaders.
