Head of Investment

College Circle AI; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

College Circle AI is seeking a Head of Investment to own fundraising and institutional funding relationships, collaborating with the Founder and leadership to identify, approach, negotiate, and close opportunities with angel investors, VCs, family offices, government funds, grants, and other strategic funding sources.

This role aims to build a fundraising function and a robust investment network, managing end-to-end funding relationships from research to closing and potentially leading an

Qualifications

• Experience in fundraising, venture capital, investment banking, business development, grants, government programs, CSR, partnerships, startup ecosystems, or institutional relationships.

Responsibilities

• Own the complete funding relationship from research through closing and relationship management.
• Identify investors, government funds, grants, CSR opportunities, and institutional funding programs.
• Build and maintain a strong investor pipeline with clear tracking of conversations and next steps.
• Lead negotiations and move conversations toward formal commitments.
• Develop and manage an Investment team and repeatable funding systems.

Skills

Fundraising

Investor outreach

Negotiation

Relationship building

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Communication

Job description

We are looking for a Head of Investment to take ownership of College Circle AI’s fundraising and institutional funding relationships. This person will work closely with the Founder and leadership team to identify, approach, build relationships with, negotiate, and close opportunities with angel investors, VCs, family offices, government funds, grants, institutions, and other strategic funding sources.

This is not simply an investor outreach role. The Head of Investment will be responsible for building a fundraising function and a strong investment network around College Circle AI.

What You Will Own

You will take ownership of the complete funding relationship from research - outreach - communication - meeting - proposal - negotiation - closing - documentation - relationship management.

Your responsibilities will include:

1. Identifying relevant investors, government funds, grants, CSR opportunities, institutional funding programs, and strategic funding partners.
2. Building and maintaining a strong investor pipeline with clear tracking of every conversation, follow up, opportunity, and next step.
3. Personally reaching out to investors and funding organisations through email, LinkedIn, calls, introductions, events, and other channels.
4. Scheduling and coordinating investor meetings and working closely with the Founder before and after important conversations.
5. Understanding the investor or funding organisation and positioning College Circle AI according to their investment thesis, funding priorities, and interests.
6. Supporting the preparation of investment proposals, grant applications, pitch materials, financial information, and other required documents.
7. Managing negotiations and helping move conversations from initial interest towards a formal commitment.
8. Building relationships with government departments, education organisations, universities, CSR teams, foundations, and other institutions that can support the company.
9. Developing a team under the Investment function. You can build a team of Investment Fellows, Associates, researchers, or other contributors who can independently source and manage funding opportunities.
10. Creating a repeatable investment and grant acquisition system rather than depending only on individual relationships.

Performance Based Incentive

The Head of Investment will have a direct performance linked incentive based on funding successfully generated through opportunities they originate and close.

For example, if the person directly contributes to successfully closing ₹1 crore in investment or eligible grant funding, the incentive can be structured at 0.5% to 1% of the amount successfully received by College Circle AI, subject to the specific funding source, applicable terms, and formal agreement.

This means the role has significant upside based on actual results.

The incentive should be tied to funds actually received by the company, rather than simply an investor agreeing to invest or a grant application being submitted.

Equity Opportunity

The Head of Investment is also being considered as a department leader within College Circle AI.

If the company provides equity opportunities of up to 5% for the relevant long term builder structure, the Head of Investment may be eligible for up to 1% equity associated with the Investment function, subject to contribution, performance, tenure, vesting, company approval, and a separate formal equity agreement.

The 1% should therefore be positioned as a leadership equity opportunity, not an automatic grant.

As the Investment function grows, the Head of Investment can also build and lead their own team. The company can create additional incentive structures for team members based on the funding opportunities they independently source and successfully close.

What You Can Build

This role gives you the opportunity to build more than an investor pipeline.

You can build an entire Investment and Funding Department inside College Circle AI.

You can:

1. Build your own investment team.
2. Develop investor sourcing systems and databases.
3. Create relationships with founders, VCs, angel investors, government bodies, CSR organisations, and education institutions.
4. Represent College Circle AI in relevant startup, investment, education, and government ecosystems.
5. Work directly with the Founder on high value funding conversations.
6. Build long term relationships with investors beyond a single fundraising round.
7. Potentially grow into a senior leadership position as the company and department scale.

Founder and Team Association

The Head of Investment will work closely with the Founder and senior management team, especially on major funding discussions and strategic relationships.

You will have access to the broader College Circle AI ecosystem, including the technology, research, product, community, marketing, and operations teams.

Where appropriate, you can work from the College Circle AI office, participate in team meetings, meet the founders and team members in person, and build your own Investment team within the company's working environment.

The expectation is to become closely integrated with the company rather than operate as an external sales agent.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who is highly driven, confident, persistent, commercially aware, and comfortable initiating conversations with senior people.

Experience in fundraising, venture capital, investment banking, business development, grants, government programs, CSR, partnerships, startup ecosystems, or institutional relationships is valuable.

However, strong communication, research ability, relationship building, negotiation, and the ability to consistently follow up can also be considered.