3one4 Capital

We’re delighted to share that Nruthya Madappa, Partner at 3one4 Capital, has been recognised with the Candere Hurun ‘Moment of Lift 2025’ Award. At 3one4 Capital, Nruthya has led with clarity and conviction, building frameworks that make growth repeatable - leading founders through capital raises, scaling journeys, driving successful exits, and helping strengthen the bridge between founder ambition and institutional capital. A well-deserved recognition for a leader whose work continues to lift founders, teams, and the ecosystem.

As enterprises increasingly look to automate customer interactions without losing the nuance of human-like engagement, voice is emerging as the most natural interface between humans and intelligent systems. smallest.ai’s ultra-fast, efficient speech models bring human-like fluency to customer engagement across financial services, education, and entertainment -  sectors where voice is rapidly becoming the primary mode of interaction. With deep expertise in AI research and deployment, the team has moved swiftly from frontier research to commercial adoption. Their ability to translate complex innovation into practical, production-ready products is driving rapid enterprise uptake. Read how Smallest․ai is making this possible at scale.

Fintech in India continues to set global benchmarks in innovation, inclusion, and scale. At the Global Fintech Fest 2025, 3one4 Capital’s portfolio companies reflected this momentum through their presence across panels and pavilions. Knight FinTech, Dhan, Raise Financial Services, Rezolv, smallest.ai, Fyno, Glomo, CheQ, and Jupiter showcased products and partnerships shaping the next chapter of financial services. From intelligent infrastructure and embedded credit to secure digital payments, each presented a different way technology is redrawing the boundary between access and trust. Over three days of exchange and insight, portfolio voices featured prominently across the GFF stage. With Jitendra Gupta, the discussion grounded itself in first principles – focused on the balance between scale and substance, and what it takes to build companies that endure. The conversation widened through Aditya Soni's perspective, connecting the evolving rhythm of payments, credit, and commerce – how each is reshaping digital consumer behaviour. Akash Arun turned the lens outward, drawing from Glomo’s work at GIFT IFSC to show how India’s financial footprint is widening across borders. 🌍 Nruthya Madappa, Partner at 3one4 Capital, joined fellow investors and ecosystem leaders on a panel on Global Capital x Local Innovation: Fintech Investment Narratives –  a conversation on how India’s fintech ecosystem continues to draw global confidence and capital.🤝✨ By the close of the fest, what stood out wasn’t just participation or scale – it was clarity. Thoughtful ideas, grounded execution, and the unmistakable sense that Indian fintech is maturing into its next chapter. We are proud to see our portfolio drive meaningful conversations and showcase cutting-edge solutions at GFF 2025. 🚀 #GlobalFintechFest2025 #3one4Capital #Fintech #Innovation #Portfolio

Global tech is re-architecting its talent hubs, and India is emerging as the decisive centre. More than 1,700 Global Capability Centres already anchor AI, R&D, and product innovation in the country, a base projected to grow beyond 2,400 by 2030, employing 4.5 million professionals 📈. As explored in Pranav Pai’s article ‘A Second Turning: India as the Talent Haven for Global Tech’, featured in Inc42, this is an inflection point. With scale, talent, and financial depth aligned, India stands ready to move beyond execution into innovation, transforming enterprise demand into enduring global leadership. https://lnkd.in/gHvP2gbC

Kapiva’s $60M Series D marks a defining moment for science-led Ayurveda. With preventive healthcare projected to reach $75B by 2035, Ayurveda is no longer an alternative – it is becoming mainstream. From clinically validated hero products to profitability across channels, and a footprint spanning 40,000+ offline touchpoints with fast-growing demand in the US, UAE, and UK – Kapiva is setting the pace for India’s wellness economy. We unpack the journey of Kapiva from promise to proven scale. Read on👇 🔗 Full blog in the comments.

As India accelerates toward its $10 trillion ambition, the next cycle of fiscal devolution will determine how growth, opportunity, and responsibility are shared between the Union and the States. The 16th Finance Commission (16th FC), which will frame the resource-sharing architecture for 2026–31, has the opportunity to modernise the foundations of India’s fiscal federalism. Our latest report, '16th Finance Commission Recommendations – Towards a Future-Ready India,' authored by Mohandas Pai, Nisha Holla and Surabhi Hodigere, outlines a model that strengthens cooperative federalism while aligning fiscal incentives with governance quality, sustainability, and developmental outcomes. The proposed framework retains the 41% vertical share of tax devolution for states but introduces a more balanced horizontal formula that reflects population dynamics, service delivery needs, and development needs based on SDGs. It also incorporates governance-based and ecological incentives while guaranteeing that no state receives less than its allocation under the 15th Finance Commission. The report recommends a cap on cesses and surcharges at 10% of gross tax revenues to enhance transparency and ensure that more resources flow into the divisible pool. This reform, coupled with the proposed structure of untied and tied grants, seeks to empower states with both fiscal stability and flexibility. A predictable and need-based framework can enhance state capacity, improve investor confidence, and create a more balanced foundation for India’s next decade of growth. 🔗 To access the full report, visit: https://lnkd.in/gxu8eKaU For a concise overview of the key themes and recommendations, read the accompanying blog linked in the comments.

smallest.ai has raised $8 million in seed funding led by SIERRA Ventures, with participation from 3one4 Capital and Better Capital. The company is redefining enterprise communication with fast, multilingual, and production-ready AI voice agents that combine human-level speed, accuracy, and empathy. Starting with contact centres, where global enterprises spend over $400 billion each year, Smallest.ai’s end-to-end voice automation platform unifies speech recognition, language understanding, and synthesis within a single, production-ready stack. Its proprietary models set new standards for performance and scalability. Lightning, a text-to-speech engine with ~100 ms latency, runs up to six times faster than leading systems. Electron delivers a tenfold faster time-to-first-byte than GPT-4.1 Mini, and Lightning ASR achieves superior cost-to-quality performance for major global languages. We are proud to partner with Sudarshan Kamath and Akshat Mandloi as they build one of the most advanced full-stack Voice AI platforms for enterprises. Their work captures a defining shift where voice becomes the most natural and intelligent interface for how people and businesses interact. Congratulations to the entire smallest.ai team on this milestone 🙌

India’s future belongs to the disruptors. Will your startup lead the way? We are excited to partner with HDFC Capital Advisors Limited, HDFC Mutual Fund and HDFC Bank for the 4th edition of HDFC Tech Innovators. The platform continues with its mission of recognizing trailblazers driving India’s innovation story across Consumer Tech | Defense & Space Tech | Fintech | New Age Tech | Proptech | Sustainability Tech. The 4th edition of HDFC Tech Innovators will also recognize emerging women founders driving transformative change. If your startup is poised to drive India’s next wave of innovation, this is your chance to unlock the next level of growth. Apply NOW! https://lnkd.in/de-dYrRm  #HDFCTechInnovators #StartupChallenge #IndiaInnovates #HDFCCapital #HDFCMutualFund #HDFCBank #TechForIndia #WomenInTech #StartupIndia #InnovationAwards

While Mumbai hosted the world’s leading fintech minds at 𝗚𝗙𝗙𝟮𝟱, the conversation turned to how global capital meets local innovation. On the panel 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 × 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, Nruthya Madappa, Partner at 3one4 Capital, shared how India’s fintech ecosystem is evolving from scale to sustainability – powered by technology, regulation, and inclusion. From AI to access, the dialogue captured the energy of a sector defining the future of finance. ✨ #GFF25 #3one4Capital #Fintech #Innovation #InvestingInIndia