Ravi Mhatre has spent more than 25 years helping build Lightspeed itself as a founding partner rather than simply joining an existing firm, and his work spans enterprise software, life sciences, consumer, and blockchain investing. Having lived on three continents and in four U.S. states before age 18, he brings a specific view on India's AI opportunity, arguing that the country's real edge lies in application-layer AI built for its languages, accents, and regulations rather than in base models or infrastructure.
About their Fund
Lightspeed India focuses on solving India-specific problems rather than copying U.S. or China playbooks, invests mostly at the seed and Series A stage but can offer much larger follow-on funding through its global platform, and writes checks from about $1 million to $100 million across India and Southeast Asia using the same fund. The firm also provides dedicated in-house support in areas like talent, leadership, and M&A, has added experienced operators such as former Boat CEO Vivek Gambhir and Gojek cofounder Kevin Aluwi as venture partners, prefers secondary share sales over IPOs as its main way of returning capital, and sees India's biggest AI opportunity in application-layer tools and upgrading IT and BPO work rather than building foundational AI infrastructure.
















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