Sadev Ventures Names Ishan Kansal Cofounder as It Targets ₹1,000 Cr AUM

Q: After denying his exit from Snabbit, what prompted Ishan Kansal’s sudden move to co-found Sadev Ventures?

Ishan Kansal’s move appears to have been driven less by a sudden break from Snabbit and more by the scale of the opportunity at Sadev Ventures. Sadev is entering an aggressive expansion phase: it plans to grow assets under management from its current ₹240 crore corpus to more than ₹1,000 crore over the next 18-24 months, launch a second equity fund, enter venture debt, and open a Bengaluru office. Kansal is being brought in to build that Bengaluru base and help shape the firm as cofounder and managing partner, which is a materially larger leadership mandate than an operating role at a single startup. The fit also looks strategic. Kansal brings operator experience from Snabbit, nearly six years at CRED, and earlier roles at Paytm and Deutsche Bank. Sadev founder Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl has framed the hire as a way to strengthen the firm’s ability to back founders with an operator-led lens and support portfolio companies through execution and scale. Additional reporting suggests Bahl viewed Kansal as a long-trusted associate with strong product, business, and execution skills. So while Kansal had denied leaving Snabbit when asked earlier, the available reporting indicates that the trigger for his eventual move was Sadev’s rapid scaling plans and the chance to take on a founding leadership role in venture investing, rather than any publicly disclosed issue at Snabbit.

1 articles · Updated · inc42.com · May 21

Ishan Kansal, formerly Snabbit’s product head, will join Sadev Ventures in early June as cofounder and managing partner, based in Bengaluru to open the firm’s second India office.
The hire supports Sadev’s 18-24 month expansion plan to grow assets under management from ₹240 Cr to more than ₹1,000 Cr, launch a second equity fund and enter venture debt.
Kansal brings operator experience from nearly six years at CRED and earlier roles at Paytm and Deutsche Bank, adding product, payments, insurance and lending expertise to the early-stage VC.
Founded in 2024 by former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, Sadev backs seed to pre-Series A startups with ₹2-10 Cr cheques and has invested in companies including Asaya, Vama, Gladful and Prosperr.