a99 to launch a $100 million Fund to back manufacturing and infrastructure startups

a99 VC, formerly Artha99, is raising a $100M Fund III to invest $5–10M each in 12–15 manufacturing and infrastructure startups across Pre-Series A to Series B stages. The fund has secured $30M in soft commitments and eyes a first close by April 2026. Founded in 2021 by Vignesh Shankar, a99 previously backed Intangles, Raptee, Vajro, Intents Mobi, and exited Futurice UK with 7X returns.