Admin & Ops
Fund administration, SEBI AIF compliance, capital calls, and the back-office scaffolding that lets an Indian VC firm actually run.
The Brief
The whole question of fund admin in India collapses into one decision: where does the fund live, and what regulator does it answer to? A SEBI-registered Cat I or Cat II AIF in Mumbai means quarterly compliance reports, custodian arrangements, valuation under SEBI norms, and audit cycles that look nothing like a Delaware LLC. A GIFT City IFSC fund layers on USD-denominated reporting, FATCA/CRS, and a different regulator (IFSCA). Pick the wrong tool for the wrong structure and you spend year two re-platforming instead of investing.
The Indian platform layer has matured. A sub-INR 100 Cr fund or syndicate-style vehicle can run end-to-end on AngelList India, LetsVenture, or Trica. Mid-sized AIFs typically split: an Indian platform or admin firm for SEBI, FEMA, and RoC, plus a cap-table and waterfall layer (Carta) for portfolio and carry tracking. Above that, institutional GPs move to traditional fund admins — Apex, IQ-EQ, Vistra — not because the platforms can't handle scale, but because LPs at that ticket size expect a Big-4-audited admin name on the K-1 equivalent.
How to approach this stack
How to approach this stack — depending on where your firm is.
- BeginnerSingle SPV or rolling vehicle. Pick one Indian platform — AngelList India, LetsVenture, or Trica — and live inside it.
- IntermediateSub-INR 250 Cr Cat II AIF with a real CFO or ops lead. Stitch a platform plus Carta plus an external CA firm.
- AdvancedMulti-fund, GIFT City plus domestic structure, institutional LPs. You're now buying a fund admin relationship, not a SaaS product.
What to look for when buying
What separates a good admin & ops from a bad one for a venture fund.
- 01Structure-native, not retrofitted.A tool built for Delaware C-corps will leak abstractions into every SEBI filing. Indian-built platforms understand contribution agreements, INR drawdown notices, and Form III out of the box.
- 02LP reporting that looks institutional.Capital account statements, IRR/DPI/TVPI, drawdown notices go to family offices and DFIs comparing you to global GPs. PDFs from a spreadsheet template stop scaling at fund II.
- 03Switching cost is the real lock-in.Migrating fund admin mid-vintage is brutal — historical NAVs, audit trails, LP records all have to come along. Pick for fund III, not fund I.
Common pitfalls
Where admin & ops stacks usually break.
- 01Treating GIFT City as a tax hack instead of an ops decision.The IFSCA regime is a different rulebook with different admin, audit, and reporting. Decide structure before tooling.
- 02Outsourcing compliance entirely to the platform.SEBI quarterlies, valuation policy, PPM updates — all still the GP's liability. The platform automates the filing; it does not own the obligation.