Lohit Biswal, manager of strategic investments and investor relations at Mercurius Media Capital, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
Lohit Biswal’s colleagues credit his personable and easy-going nature with making him an approachable member of the team, adept at fostering collaboration across diverse groups, and helping him to build authentic, long-lasting relationships with founders. This has proven to be useful in his role sourcing deals for recently launched Mercurius Media Capital, a US-based media-for-equity fund.
Biswal joined Mercurius Media Capital after a stint at The Times Group’s other CVC, Brand Capital International, where he sourced deals in the consumer technology startup sector.
The Mercurius Media Capital fund, which launched in December 2023, invests in consumer tech-focused startups in the US. Its unique model allows startups to exchange equity in their companies for advertising space provided by media companies that join the fund as LPs.
Over the past seven months, Biswal has taken on a dual role of supporting the investor relations team.
He says the fund’s newness makes it feel a bit like working for a startup. “Investments are my forte. But since this is an early venture, it feels like a startup and we have to play multiple roles,” says Biswal.
“Investments are my forte. But since this is an early venture, it feels like a startup and we have to play multiple roles.”
Media-for-equity investing is popular in countries such as India, Germany and the UK, but investors and startups are unfamiliar with the approach in the US. This means Biswal spends a lot of time educating startups and media companies on its benefits.
“Media-for-equity is hands on with co-ordinating media campaigns, reporting results. There is operational complexity. Founders appreciate that this is not just VC cash investing,” says Biswal.
The fund targets consumer-focused and B2C startups in the software, gaming, edtech, health and wellness sectors. Fintech is also an area where the team sees investment potential, as well as immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality.
See the full list of Rising Stars 2025 here.
