Ujwa Sutaria, Founder and General Partner, Trilling Dollar Venture
Early-stage investor Trilling Dollar Venture (TDV) is ramping up investments in consumer-centric startups as it rolls out from its second Rs 50-crore fund launched in October 2024. Founded in July 2021, the company raised debut funding of Rs 25 million and has since built a portfolio of over 40 startups across consumer technology, spirituality technology, consumer upgrades and consumer AI.
Founder and General Partner Ujjwa Sutaria outlined TDV’s investment strategy, sectoral focus and exit philosophy.
Edited excerpt:
What does your portfolio look like today?
Fund I invested in 33 companies, including esports platform STAN, fintech startup GoodScore, jewelry marketplace Eternz, beauty platform Kindlife, and workforce platform Awign. Fund II has invested in eight companies so far, including Sports For Life, a chain of child-focused sports academies. QuantE, a rooftop solar power platform. Zulu Club, a lifestyle commerce app. Flexprice is an AI infrastructure company focused on pricing and monetization. This portfolio reflects our strong penchant for consumer-driven themes.
We have backed 10-12 startups and plan to close our second fund this year.
What is your core investment theory?
Approximately 80% of our capital is focused on consumer, broadly B2C. We split this into three buckets. Consumer technology includes scalable platforms and marketplaces that benefit from network effects. Consumer Upgrade — Targets the top 10 billion Indians looking to try new-age brands across health, lifestyle and home categories. Consumer AI — Reimagine the consumer platform through an AI-first architecture. We believe that AI-native consumer businesses will make meaningful progress over the next two to three years.
What field are you interested in?
Fintech remains attractive, especially wealthtech for the masses and upper middle classes in India, where AI can personalize financial advice and help improve literacy at scale. We are also active in blue-collar and gray-collar workforce platforms to help Indians access global employment opportunities. As consumers steadily strive for quality, we see great potential for premium D2C brands in fragrances, sarees, home décor, pet care, and more.
What is a typical check size?
We like to be the first checker at the pre-seed stage. We often lead rounds of $500,000 to $700,000, but individual check sizes typically range from $100,000 to $300,000, and in exceptional cases can reach up to $500,000. We are comfortable investing in ideas and team building.
What is the investment period and exit strategy?
We invest with a six to eight year horizon. Because we enter pre-seed, the first meaningful liquidity event typically occurs around Series B. If a company is doing really well, I prefer a partial exit to recover capital while retaining 70-80% for long-term upside. If growth prospects weaken, we may choose to exit completely. To date, we have completed one full withdrawal and another partial withdrawal is underway.
Published March 2, 2026
