Anicut Capital
Anicut Capital is a Chennai-based, sector-agnostic alternative investment firm that invests across debt and equity in Indian companies. It is a generalist, not a water specialist, with a single water bet: Uravu Labs, a startup that makes drinking water from air. As of 2026 it has backed one water company across two deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Anicut Capital runs an unusually broad book for an Indian firm its size: it invests both structured private credit and equity, from seed through late stage, all from a single Chennai shop. Co-founded by Ashvin Chadha and former ICICI Bank banker I A S Balamurugan, it has built six funds across debt and equity strategies. It is a generalist, not a water fund, which is the single most useful thing to know before reading its water record.
Anicut Capital has been scaling fastest on the debt side: as of December 2025 it closed its third private credit vehicle, Grand Anicut Fund IV, at about ₹1,275 crore (roughly $142 million), lifting the firm's assets under management to around ₹4,500 crore (about $540 million) across six funds, split evenly between debt and equity. That breadth, not water, is the headline; Anicut is a broad Indian investor that has written exactly one water cheque.
Anicut Capital's lone water company is Uravu Labs, a Bangalore startup that pulls drinking water out of thin air. Uravu's systems use a liquid desiccant and renewable heat, including industrial waste heat, to capture atmospheric moisture and release it as clean water for beverage makers, hospitality and real estate. Anicut backed it through its early-stage seed fund, run by partner Ajay Anand, alongside investors such as Speciale Invest and Rocketship.vc. It reads as a generalist seed bet on a hard climate-tech idea, not the opening of a water practice.
Anicut Capital has backed one water company, Uravu Labs, across two deals, which is why (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment a One-Off. For a newcomer the read is simple: this is a large, multi-asset Indian firm with a single early water bet, not a fund building toward water. Whether a second water company ever follows will say more than the first one did.
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 · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Anicut Capital invest in?
- Anicut Capital is a sector-agnostic Indian alternative investment firm. It invests across both debt and equity, from structured private credit for growing businesses to seed, growth and late-stage equity, spanning consumer, financial services and technology companies. Water is a very small part of that mandate, with a single portfolio company.
- Does Anicut Capital invest in water?
- Anicut Capital has made one water investment: Uravu Labs, a Bangalore startup that generates drinking water from air using a liquid desiccant and renewable heat. Anicut backed it across two deals at the seed stage. Because it is the firm's only water company, (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment a One-Off.
- Who runs Anicut Capital?
- Anicut Capital was co-founded by managing partners Ashvin Chadha, a career finance professional who has worked at Morgan Stanley and General Atlantic, and I A S Balamurugan, formerly of ICICI Bank. Its early-stage equity practice, the seed fund behind the Uravu Labs bet, is led by partner Ajay Anand.
- How big is Anicut Capital and how many funds does it run?
- Anicut Capital manages roughly ₹4,500 crore (about $540 million) across six funds as of December 2025, split evenly between three private-credit funds and three equity funds. Its latest, Grand Anicut Fund IV, closed at about ₹1,275 crore. The Grand Anicut funds are the firm's own vehicles, not separate firms.
- Where is Anicut Capital based?
- Anicut Capital is based in Chennai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and invests across India. Its single water holding, Uravu Labs, operates out of Bangalore. The firm deploys from a family of funds branded Grand Anicut, covering both private credit and equity strategies.