The Disruptor: Together Fund — An Operator-Led, AI-First Venture Capital Powering Global Innovation

1. What Together Fund Is and Why It Disrupts

Together Fund is a unique venture capital firm co-founded by Manav Garg alongside Girish Mathrubootham that champions bold, early-stage AI and tech startups with global ambitions. The firm stands out for its operator-led and founder-first philosophy — a model in which seasoned entrepreneurs, not career financiers, actively guide fast-growing startups with capital plus operational expertise.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Bengaluru with presence in the US-India corridor, Together Fund writes initial checks typically in the $1M–$10M range at Seed and Series A stages, focusing on founders building AI-native, category-defining products.

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2. Founders & Vision: Manav Garg and the Operator DNA

At the core of Together Fund is Manav Garg — a founder turned investor whose journey embodies the “build and back builders” ethos. Before Together, Manav built Eka Software Solutions, a global enterprise SaaS platform for procurement and supply chain, scaling it to success before its acquisition. His belief in paying it forward — helping founders scale — seeded the idea for Together Fund.

Manav brings deep operational insight, having backed 30+ startups personally prior to formalizing Together Fund. His philosophy centres on helping founders think long-term, execute decisively, and scale meaningfully.

Together’s co-founder Girish Mathrubootham (founder of Freshworks) provides complementary experience in global SaaS scaling, further anchoring the fund’s investor-operator credibility.

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3. Strategy & Investment Focus

Together Fund has carved a distinct investment thesis:

• Operator-led support: Beyond capital, founders receive strategic guidance in product, go-to-market planning, hiring, and scaling — grounded in the partners’ own build-at-scale experiences.
• AI-first orientation: The firm exclusively backs AI-native companies across horizontal and vertical domains, believing AI will reshape industries from healthcare to infrastructure and enterprise tooling.
• Global perspective: With operations across Bangalore and Silicon Valley, Together Fund backs founders ready to compete beyond regional markets.
• Hands-on portfolio support: Together typically makes 8–10 meaningful investments annually, ensuring each startup gets tailored operational engagement.

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4. Traction & Portfolio Highlights

Together Fund has built an active portfolio with 50+ investments, spanning seed to Series A and beyond. The portfolio includes companies across AI, SaaS, consumer tech, and healthcare — such as Emergent, Rocket.new and Confido Health.

The fund’s focus on backing companies with strong revenue fundamentals shows in its portfolio signals: roughly 40% of companies receive follow-on funding, and several are on strong revenue trajectories.

Together Fund also led key rounds, including a $2.6M seed round in AI research startup Gibran, underscoring its activity in advancing foundational AI research and innovation.

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5. Operating Model: Beyond Money

What differentiates Together Fund from traditional VCs is the operator mindset at its core:

• Investments are paired with active mentorship and strategy support.
• Partners like Manav and Girish leverage their own building experiences to help founders manage early scaling, avoid common pitfalls, and align product with market in meaningful ways.
• The fund’s narrative stresses “long-term impact over short-term gains,” emphasizing reputation, founder trust, and enduring company growth.

This is reflected in the firm’s branding: “Building iconic AI, together.” — a tagline that signals partnership over passive financing.

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6. Multi-Role Perspectives

Journalist: Together Fund is part of a broader emergence of operator-led capital — pairing the muscle of founders who’ve scaled successful businesses with the funding needed to propel new innovators.

Founder/Operator: The practical support founders get — from product strategy to hiring — is an antidote to the traditional “check and wait” VC model, making Together Fund a sought-after backer for early AI and SaaS startups.

Investor: The fund’s focus on the AI stack, combined with disciplined investments and mentorship, positions it well to identify winners in complex verticals where capital alone isn’t enough.

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7. Why Together Is a Disruptor in VC

Together Fund disrupts venture capital norms by blending operator credibility with founder empathy, making it uniquely suited for backing ambitious, product-led teams at the frontier of AI and SaaS. Its thesis on founder-first capital plus operational playbooks is now a hallmark of next-gen VC models — one that is gaining traction as founders seek partners, not just capital.