Apoorva Ranjan Sharma

Founder at Venture Catalysts · Joined 2016

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Biography

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma is listed as Founder on the Venture Catalysts team page, where his name is rendered "Dr. Apoorva Rajan Sharma". Forbes India names him as the founder of Venture Catalysts and as a co-founder of 9Unicorns, the accelerator fund launched in August 2019 alongside Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain, and Inc42 describes him as cofounder of 100Unicorns and managing director of Venture Catalysts. Entrepreneur India reports that he started his own venture firm, Venture Nursery, in 2012 before Venture Catalysts. He is a co-founder of Beams Fintech Fund and was quoted as such in the April 2022 announcement of that fund's Rs 270 crore first close. Zauba Corp filing records show him appointed a director of Venture Catalysts Private Limited on 30 September 2016 under DIN 00873790. He is quoted as Venture Catalysts' founder in the January 2026 reporting of the firm's exit from Pee Safe. Education is left empty because the two sources found disagree: the ICAI MSME profile page states a PhD and a diploma in mentoring studies from UC Berkeley, while a third-party startup blog states a doctorate from Amity Business School and a diploma in mentoring from UC Berkeley Haas.

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

Pee SafeOYO RoomsBeardoInnov8FyndSuprDaily

Career Timeline

2012
Started his own venture firm, Venture Nursery, per Entrepreneur India.
2016
Venture Catalysts is founded; the firm's own team page lists him as Founder and Forbes India names him as its founder.
2016
Appointed a director of Venture Catalysts Private Limited on 30 September 2016 (DIN 00873790), per the Zauba Corp filing record.
2019
Named by Forbes India as a co-founder of 9Unicorns, launched in August 2019 with Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain.
2022
Quoted as a co-founder of Beams Fintech Fund in the April 2022 announcement of the fund's Rs 270 crore first close.
2026
Quoted as Venture Catalysts' founder in the January 2026 announcement of the firm's exit from Pee Safe at a reported 9.6x return.

Sources & References

Venture Catalysts++ - Meet Our Team (current roster, checked 7 September 2026) ↗Venture Catalysts - People (same roster, alternate path on the firm's own site) ↗Forbes India - VCats and 9Unicorns: A sibling revelry ↗Entrepreneur India - The Unicorn Investor: Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma ↗Inc42 - Venture Catalysts clocks 9.6X return on Pee Safe exit after 9 years (January 2026) ↗Inc42 - 9Unicorns rebrands to 100Unicorns, launches second fund with $200 Mn corpus ↗Business Standard - First close of Venture Catalysts-backed Beams Fintech Fund at Rs 270 cr (5 Apr 2022) ↗Zauba Corp - Venture Catalysts Private Limited (CIN U74999MH2015PTC268665) ↗ICAI MSME - Profile: Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma ↗