Auraska Ventures is taking a contrarian route in India’s alternative investment landscape, launching a ₹500 crore Category II AIF focused on the country’s fast-emerging cultural economy, even as most funds continue to chase fintech and SaaS.
The Auraska Opportunities Fund, which opens on April 15, will back 10–15 companies from seed to Series B across consumer, media, sports, gaming, fashion and intellectual property-led businesses, marking one of the few institutional bets on what is increasingly being termed India’s “Orange Economy.”
At the core of this thesis is a belief that large, underpenetrated opportunities exist in new asset classes such as digital and celebrity-led intellectual property. “There are significant untapped opportunities in the orange economy-related sub-sectors, especially around IP rights… This new asset class can provide significant upside to investors compared to the already highly penetrated other sectors,” said Vishal Mahajan in an email interaction.
Auraska’s strategy stands apart not just in sector focus but also in structure. The fund combines equity investments with selective high-yield debt, although returns will be largely equity-driven. “The fund will primarily invest in equity with opportunistic high-yield debt investments in certain limited situations. Therefore, our returns will primarily be driven by equity investments in early to mid-stage transactions,” Mahajan said.
A key differentiator is its LP-as-amplifier model, where investors—including HNIs, celebrities and family offices—are expected to play an active role in scaling portfolio companies. The approach draws from emerging examples in India’s consumer ecosystem. Mahajan pointed to actor Shraddha Kapoor’s early investment in Palmonas as a case in point, where active participation helped build brand credibility and accelerate growth, eventually attracting institutional capital.
Beyond capital, Auraska is betting on access. Its proprietary deal flow, the firm says, is driven by deep industry relationships built over decades in investment banking and advisory. “Our proprietary deal flow arises from the fact that Auraska is led and backed by industry veterans and have deep connects at the top level with market participants across the value chain,” Mahajan said, adding that this network-driven approach gives the firm an edge over traditional venture capital players.
The timing of the launch coincides with growing policy and investor interest in India’s cultural and creative industries. From media and entertainment to gaming and creator-led businesses, these sectors are seeing rapid expansion, but remain underrepresented in institutional portfolios.
Mahajan believes the shift will be gradual, with early capital largely coming from high-net-worth individuals and family offices before broader institutional participation. While marquee deals such as those in the IPL or celebrity-backed startups have drawn attention, Auraska is looking to widen the investment canvas across emerging sub-sectors within the cultural economy.
With ambitions to deploy over $1 billion over the next decade, Auraska is positioning itself as a long-term capital partner in a segment where culture, content and commerce are increasingly intersecting—an area it believes will define the next phase of India’s investment landscape.