Short answer: Eximius Ventures takes pitches through its "pitch us" form. It publishes no deadline, no cohort and no selection criteria. So the preparation is on your side: confirm you fit its pre-seed thesis, know what a roughly $500K cheque does to your cap table, and send a short, specific pitch.
Ready to apply? Open the Eximius Ventures pitch form →
Eximius is a pre-seed fund with offices in Delhi and Bangalore. Below is the full route to apply to Eximius Ventures, step by step, with the rupee maths done once.
How to apply to Eximius Ventures: one form, no published process
The entry point is the "pitch us" form on the Eximius site. That is the only public route. No page states what the form asks, what happens after you submit, or how long a reply takes.
What the firm does say about itself, in the FAQ on its homepage:
- Stage: pre-product or early-traction rounds, sometimes before a company is incorporated.
- Role: it can lead or co-lead, and says it helps fill the rest of the round through its venture partner network and other VCs.
- Cheque: the page gives two figures: $500K to $1M in one answer, "up to $500K" in another.
The firm's pre-seed playbook page adds a third data point: checks of up to $500K for about 10% equity, with a reserve for follow-on funding. That is Eximius's own description, not a market benchmark.
Bottom line: plan around a lead or co-lead cheque of up to $500K, and confirm the exact figure in your first conversation.
Where to apply: Eximius Ventures pitch form → (read Steps 1–3 first, then submit)
Step 1: Check your fit against the thesis, not an old sector list
Older write-ups name fintech, SaaS, healthtech, media and gaming. The homepage now groups the focus as FinAI, Enterprise AI and Consumer AI. The Eximius Echo page also hosts recent thesis notes, from July to September 2026, on areas such as physical AI, defence, climate tech and AI in financial services.
A thesis note is research, not a promise to invest. But it shows where the partners are reading and thinking right now.
Run this fit test before writing anything:
- Sector: does your product sit under one of the three headings, or inside a recent thesis note?
- Stage: are you pre-product or early-traction? A seed-stage business with real revenue is a different pitch.
- Geography: are you building from India for a large market?
- Portfolio overlap: does a portfolio company already do your exact thing? If so, expect a hard question on why you win.
Backrr's Fundability Report scores a company out of 100 across Problem & Market, Team & Expertise, Business & GTM, Funding & Utilization and Investor Lens, which is a quick way to see which of those four fit questions is weakest.
Bottom line: if you cannot name the thesis heading you sit under, fix that before you send anything.
Step 2: Size the round around a $500K cheque
Founders often pitch an amount, then find the cap table doesn't work. Do the arithmetic first.
Take Eximius's stated terms: up to $500K for about 10%. That implies a $5M post-money valuation and a $4.5M pre-money. The table uses an assumed rate of ₹90 per $1. Swap in the rate on the day you pitch.
| Item | USD | INR (at ₹90) |
|---|---|---|
| Eximius cheque | $500K | ₹4.5 Cr |
| Pre-money valuation | $4.5M | ₹40.5 Cr |
| Post-money valuation | $5M | ₹45 Cr |
| Founders' stake after the round | 90% | 90% |
Now a larger round. Say you raise $1M in total: Eximius puts in $500K and other investors put in the other $500K, all at the same $4.5M pre-money. That is a ₹9 Cr round at a ₹49.5 Cr post-money valuation.
- New investors together: 18.2% (Eximius 9.1%).
- Founders: 81.8%.
- If you also set up a 10% option pool before closing and it counts in the post-money, founders drop to about 71.8%.
[Visual: stacked bar, "Who owns what after the round": founders 100% before; founders 71.8%, option pool 10%, investors 18.2% after.]
Investors often ask for the pool to be created before the round, so only existing holders absorb it. Know that number before the call.
Backrr's Rounds records the round size, valuation floor and cap, minimum cheque and committed amount in one place, so the numbers you quote match across your deck and your cap table.
Bottom line: at these terms, a $1M round costs the founders roughly 18% before the pool, and about 28% with it.
Step 3: Write a pitch note that answers four questions
The form's fields are not public, so prepare the answers in advance. Published signals point to what Eximius cares about. Coverage of Fund II describes the founder it wants as a seasoned operator or entrepreneur with first-principles thinking, strong execution and a large market. At a November 2024 pre-seed event, an Eximius partner (Preeti S.) told founders to get clear on their roadmap, show why this team should win, and focus on customer love.
Turn that into four short answers:
- What are you building, and for whom? One sentence, no jargon.
- Why you? The specific experience that makes this team the right one.
- How far along are you? Users, pilots, waitlist, or the honest statement that you are pre-product.
- What are you raising, and what will it buy? The amount, the use of funds, and the milestone it reaches.
Keep the deck short enough that someone can read it in a few minutes. Backrr's Pitch Deck Analyzer reviews an uploaded deck slide by slide, with a score per slide and the weak points flagged, which suits a final read-through before you send.
Bottom line: if each of the four answers fits in two lines, the pitch is ready.
Step 4: Submit, then track the follow-up yourself
Apply now: Submit your pitch to Eximius Ventures →
Attach nothing the form does not ask for. Because no response time is published, treat the first few weeks as unknown.
A sensible routine:
- Log the submission date and what you sent.
- Send one short follow-up after a couple of weeks. That cadence is our suggestion, not an Eximius rule.
- Keep pitching other pre-seed funds in parallel. One silent form should never stall your round.
Backrr's Investor Pipeline tracks each investor through Invited, Interested and Rejected, along with the interested amount and whether an investor is the lead. That replaces the usual Google Sheet of "who did I email."
Market context: why a prepared pitch matters at pre-seed
Eximius released its India pre-seed report in March 2026 with a research partner. Per the press coverage in The Tribune, fewer than 20% of startups reach Series A within four years, and investors increasingly look for early traction and monetisation clarity even at pre-seed. These are sponsor-reported figures that The Tribune did not independently verify.
What that means for you: a pitch built on idea alone competes against founders showing early proof. Bring whatever evidence you have.
Common mistakes
- Asking for a seed-sized cheque. A multi-million ask does not match a fund describing up-to-$500K first cheques.
- Pitching outside the thesis. An excellent business in the wrong sector costs both sides time.
- Quoting the wrong cheque size. The public pages differ. Confirm it rather than anchor on one.
- Ignoring the pool. Founders discover the 10% pool only after agreeing a headline valuation.
- Waiting on one reply. No timeline is published, so run other conversations at the same time.
FAQ
Where do I apply to Eximius Ventures?
Through the pitch form linked from the "pitch us" button on its website.
Does Eximius invest before a company is incorporated?
Its homepage says it sometimes backs founders before incorporation. It gives no further criteria, so state your legal status plainly in the pitch.
Is Eximius a registered fund?
Its homepage says the investment manager runs SEBI-licensed funds: a Category I AIF (Eximius Trust I) and a Category II AIF (Eximius Fund).
Will Eximius invest again in later rounds?
Fund II was launched with a $30M target, and Inc42 reported that half the corpus is reserved for follow-on investments. A reserve is not a commitment to any one company.
What help does Eximius offer besides money?
Its homepage lists strategic guidance, a network of experts and investors, and mentorship. It also runs Eximius Edge, which supports founders with hiring.
Do I need a warm introduction?
No introduction requirement is published. The site offers a public pitch form.