Mahendra Ramsinghani
About Mahendra Ramsinghani
Mahendra Ramsinghani is the founder and managing director of Secure Octane, a Silicon Valley seed fund that invests in cybersecurity, data and AI startups. Crunchbase lists him in San Francisco. MarketScreener shows him at Secure Octane since 2014.
Before that he was managing director of First Step Fund, where he led investments in more than 50 startups. MarketScreener also lists a past role as a director at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Crunchbase says he led work on fund-of-funds legislation that deployed $200 million into VC funds.
He wrote two books on venture capital and startups: The Business of Venture Capital (Wiley Finance, 2014) and Startup Boards (Wiley, 2014), the latter co-authored with Brad Feld. He organizes Bay Area Security Startups, a monthly meetup. He holds an engineering degree in electronics and an MBA from the University of Pune in India.
Crunchbase describes him as an investor and advisor in security startups such as Icebrg, Kryptnostic and Attivo Networks. It says he has invested in over fifty seed startups. Crunchbase's personal investments list shows four: Airrived, Orkes, Cyrus Security and DataDistillr. The announcement dates are not visible in the public view.
The AI investment on the Lounge deals desk is Airrived's $6.1M seed round, announced in February 2026. Airrived builds an agentic AI platform for enterprise security and IT operations. Cannage Capital led the round. Plug and Play Ventures, Rebellion Ventures and Inner Loop Capital also took part. Ramsinghani, Manoj Apte and Saqib E. Awan joined as strategic investors described as cybersecurity veterans.
Crunchbase also lists him as an investor in Orkes (seed), Cyrus Security (seed) and DataDistillr (pre-seed). The sources do not give dates or round sizes for these.
Secure Octane describes itself as an early-stage fund for cybersecurity, data and AI startups, and its seed investing is the main stage focus. Crunchbase lists his pre-seed and seed investments. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. No check size or stated investment criteria were found in public sources, so none are given here.
- Airrived: agentic AI platform for enterprise security and IT operations; $6.1M seed announced February 2026.
- Orkes: listed on Crunchbase as a seed investment; date not public.
- Cyrus Security: listed on Crunchbase as a seed investment; date not public.
- DataDistillr: listed on Crunchbase as a pre-seed investment; date not public.
- csoonline.com/profile/mahendra-ramsinghani
- marketscreener.com/insider/MAHENDRA-RAMSINGHANI-A0IB85
- fintech.global/2026/02/09/enterprise-ai-security-firm-airrived-raises-
- pulse2.com/airrived-6-1-million-seed-funding-raised-for-enterprise-sec
- crunchbase.com/person/mahendra-ramsinghani-2
- crunchbase.com/organization/secure-octane
Investing activity
Mahendra Ramsinghani appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent is Airrived (Seed, $6.1M, Feb 2026).
Mahendra Ramsinghani most often invests alongside Cannage Capital, Saqib Awan, Manoj Apte and Plug and Play, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Mahendra Ramsinghani
Who is Mahendra Ramsinghani?
He is the founder and managing director of Secure Octane, a San Francisco seed fund for cybersecurity, data and AI startups. He previously ran First Step Fund and wrote The Business of Venture Capital.
Has Mahendra Ramsinghani invested in AI startups?
Yes. He took part in Airrived's $6.1M seed round in February 2026. The round was led by Cannage Capital, and he is named among the strategic investors.
What stage does Mahendra Ramsinghani invest in?
His public investments are mostly pre-seed and seed. Secure Octane describes itself as an early-stage fund.
What is Mahendra Ramsinghani's check size?
No check size was found in public sources.
What sectors does Mahendra Ramsinghani back?
Secure Octane focuses on cybersecurity, data and AI. His known investments include enterprise security and agentic AI, such as Airrived.
How can founders reach Mahendra Ramsinghani?
He is on LinkedIn, and Secure Octane has a website at secureoctane.com. Because his focus is security, data and AI, a pitch in those areas is the most relevant.
Is Mahendra Ramsinghani an angel investor?
Yes. Mahendra Ramsinghani invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Mahendra Ramsinghani invested in?
Mahendra Ramsinghani's AI investments include Airrived. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Mahendra Ramsinghani invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Mahendra Ramsinghani has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Mahendra Ramsinghani co-invest with?
Mahendra Ramsinghani's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Cannage Capital (1 deal), Saqib Awan (1 deal), Manoj Apte (1 deal), Plug and Play (1 deal) and Rebellion Ventures (1 deal).