3i Partners
3i Partners is a Los Altos venture capital firm that backs Indian deep-tech startups across tech-bio, climate, and frontier technology at pre-seed and seed. Also called Impact India Investment Partners, it is not a water fund, but as of 2026 (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 water companies across 3 deals in its portfolio.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
3i Partners reads its own name as a thesis: impact, India, investment. Founded in 2020 by a circle of Indian-origin entrepreneurs who had already built and sold companies in Silicon Valley, the firm bets that India's next chapter gets written by deep-tech founders solving the country's hardest problems from the lab up. As of May 2026, its SEC filings show a second fund that has raised about $23.5 million, the capital behind that bet.
3i Partners is not a water fund, which is exactly why its two water-tracked companies are worth a newcomer's attention: both come at water from India's specific pain. Exposome builds regenerable molecular filters that pull pollutants out of wastewater and air and can be cleaned and reused rather than dumped, while SmartTerra wires AI into municipal water networks to hunt the leaks that lose Indian utilities a huge share of every litre they treat.
3i Partners does not lead these rounds; it shows up as a co-investor, and in SmartTerra's case through its own partners writing angel cheques, alongside funds like Colossa and Siana Capital. That is the tell of a generalist backing water opportunistically, one promising founder at a time, rather than running a dedicated water strategy. For a newcomer, 3i is what water looks like through a deep-tech impact lens: filtration chemistry and digital utilities, judged on the same frontier-tech bar as its tech-bio and climate bets. Watch whether water graduates from a couple of opportunistic bets into a theme.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does 3i Partners invest in?
- 3i Partners invests in early-stage Indian deep-tech startups across tech-bio, climate tech, and frontier tech, writing pre-seed to pre-Series A cheques. Water sits inside that climate mandate: (don't) Waste Water tracks 2 water companies, Exposome in filtration and SmartTerra in digital water utilities, across 3 deals.
- What stage and check size does 3i Partners invest at?
- 3i Partners backs companies at pre-seed, seed, and pre-Series A, typically among a startup's first institutional cheques. Within (don't) Waste Water's data its water deals cluster at Seed, and it tends to join rounds as a co-investor or angel rather than leading them.
- Who runs 3i Partners?
- 3i Partners was founded in 2020 and is led by Founder and Managing Partner Kumar Ganapathy, a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur, alongside General Partners Subodh Toprani, Ravikrishna Cherukuri, and AGK Karunakaran, plus a bench of venture partners splitting time between the United States and India.
- Where is 3i Partners based?
- 3i Partners is headquartered in Los Altos, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and runs its sourcing and portfolio work across the United States and India. The firm describes its model as glocal, pairing US operating experience with on-the-ground reach into the Indian startup ecosystem.
- Is 3i Partners the same as 3i Group?
- No. 3i Partners, also called Impact India Investment Partners, is a Los Altos seed-stage venture firm founded in 2020 and focused on Indian deep-tech. It should not be confused with 3i Group plc, the large London-listed private equity and infrastructure firm, which is a separate and unrelated company.