Astratinvest co-founders Shivam Agrawal and Akash Gupta during the launch of the ₹400 crore Quant Long Short Fund in New Delhi.
Astratinvest has launched its flagship Quant Long Short Fund using SEBI’s Category III Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) framework. Through private placement, the fund hopes to raise ₹400 crore in a year.
It is open only to sophisticated investors, with a minimum ticket size of ₹1 crore as mandated by AIF regulations. The fund uses a systematic, data-driven approach to trade India’s equity markets, promising disciplined performance with strong risk controls.
Astratinvest is among India’s youngest fund managers. Its founding team combines deep quantitative expertise and large-scale technology leadership. CEO Shivam Agrawal, who specializes in sophisticated modelling and risk management, adds capital markets expertise from Wells Fargo.
At Reliance Jio, CIO Akash Gupta oversaw software and AI projects. Alumni from BITS Pilani, IIT Kanpur, SPJIMR, and WorldQuant are on the team.
The Astratinvest Quant Long Short Fund operates through a proprietary, multi-layered model. It has four core engines:
The strategy adapts dynamically to market conditions and aims to outperform discretionary and factor-based quant models.
India’s economic transformation is creating opportunities for such strategies. Access to macroeconomics and trading data that was previously exclusive to developed markets has become feasible due to rising GDP, per capita income, and equity involvement. With this data-rich environment, Indian investors can now access global standard methods through quantitative funds.
Shivam Agrawal emphasised replacing “emotion and speculation” with data, discipline, and deep research. He sees the fund as a step toward building a “globally respected, India-rooted institution.”
Akash Gupta highlighted the ability to profit in both rising and falling markets through real-time processing of volatility regimes and macro signals.
Orbis Trusteeship Services acts as trustee, while Orbis Financial Corporation serves as custodian and registrar. Legal advice comes from Mukesh M. Gangar & Co., with Vaish Associates advising on setup. D&A Financial Services is the merchant banker. NAVs will be benchmarked against the NIFTY 50 and BSE 500.
Astrainvest intends to develop into a multi-strategy quantitative firm serving domestic and international markets, and the funds launch reflects the trend of Indian asset management toward structured, rules-based models as more investors seek transparency, adaptability, and risk control. Quantitative funds could influence the next decade of portfolio management in India.
