Biome, a venture studio, has completed the first close of its capital raise, bringing together a formidable group of backers that includes successful entrepreneurs and strategic family offices.
Designed for experienced founders who want to start from zero with deep operational support, Biome co-creates a select number of high-conviction startups each year through its integrated model of strategy, talent, and capital.
The first close brings onboard influential names such as BVR Mohan Reddy (Founder, Cyient), Prasad Yerneni (Founder, Ecoren Energy), and Abhinav Reddy (Managing Director, GAR Corp), along with the family offices of Raj Phani (Zaggle), Aditya Vuchi (MediaMint), and the family office of the Phoenix Group. These investors contribute not only capital but also strategic networks that span enterprise, infrastructure, and innovation.
Alongside the first close, Biome has also committed ₹100 crore to its venture build plan over the next three years. Biome will channel ₹100 crores into building ventures it co-founds, combining capital with deep operational support.
Founded with the backing of industry stalwarts like BVR Mohan Reddy, Biome blends deep domain expertise with founder-first execution. Among its early bets is a stealth-mode frontier AI venture headquartered in the US, led by one of the world’s leading AI scientists and Zoop.Money, a start-up reimagining home loan access.
Unlike venture capital funds, incubators, or accelerators that invest in external teams, Biome originates and co-founds companies from the earliest stage. Its operating team embeds seasoned product leaders, growth operators, and domain experts into each venture from day one, accelerating validation, execution, and scale. With a cap of three companies per year, Biome ensures high engagement, operational depth, and long-term alignment.
Biome is led by a seasoned founding team: Srinivas Kollipara, best known as founder of T-Hub, the world’s largest innovation hub; Madhu Poomalil, former MD and country head of D.E. Shaw India and Arcesium India; Kaustubh Patekar, founder of ProdZen and former director of Product Management and Strategy at Oracle; and Zaran Bhagwagar, former principal at Anthill Ventures.
Biome’s initial portfolio includes ventures like Zoop.Money, a tech-first home loan platform that reimagines real estate financing by integrating directly into developers’ and lenders’ tech stacks. Biome is also backing a stealth-mode frontier AI venture headquartered in the US, led by one of the world’s leading AI scientists; an early indication of the studio’s global outlook and conviction-led approach.
Srinivas Kollipara, Managing Partner at Biome, said, “At Biome, we’re not deploying capital from the sidelines — we’re building hands-on with our founders. We’ve built Biome to be the kind of early partner we believe early-stage companies truly need: deeply embedded, execution-led, and committed through every phase of growth. Our capital doesn’t just support companies — it helps build them, brick by brick.”
Madhu Poomalil, Managing Partner, Biome, said, “Through its mission of transforming ‘Ideas to Enterprises,’ Biome and its portfolio firms are built and operate on a foundation of strong ethos, robust governance, operational & financial excellence, and a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Nishant Mehta, CEO, Zoop.Money, said, “While India excels with instant payments via UPI and quick unsecured personal loans, the time taking manual processes in secured loans like home loans – taking weeks or months to get sanctioned – hinders economic progress. While UPI moves money in seconds, secured credit still takes weeks. That is the bottleneck we are solving. Our partnership with Biome has been crucial. Their full-stack team has helped us build quickly, set up core functions and execute with focus.”
