Debut Fund of PeerCapital Aims to Raise ₹900 Crore
- ByStartupStory | February 16, 2023
PeerCapital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology aims to gather ₹900 crore ($108.7 million) for its first fund, according to a top official. The initial phase of fundraising began in March last year and has already raised ₹300 crore. The company intends to reach a final close by September.
Ankur Pahwa, the co-founder and managing partner at PeerCapital, has revealed that their capital has been raised from family offices, HNIs, and startup founders, and they are presently in discussions with institutional investors. The total corpus, including a green shoe option of ₹300 crore, has been spearheaded by a group of highly experienced individuals. These include Pahwa, formerly of EY; Rohit MA, former managing director and co-founder of Cloudnine Group of Hospitals; and Karthik Prabhakar, formerly of Chiratae Ventures.
PeerCapital, a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) that operates with a Delaware-based feeder vehicle to access worldwide sources of capital, has initiated the deployment of funds from the capital collected so far. Ankur Pahwa, the co-founder and managing partner of PeerCapital, has confirmed that the company has invested in several portfolio firms, including OneImpression, Vaaree, Saveo, Furrl, Koo, and Jar.
According to Ankur Pahwa, co-founder and managing partner of PeerCapital, the company’s main focus is to invest in startups seeking Seed to Series A funding rounds. Initial investment amounts will range from $0.5-2 million, and the company intends to double down on its investments in subsequent rounds. PeerCapital hopes to build a portfolio of more than 30 companies with its first fund. Despite concerns about a potential downturn in funding, early-stage investing remains optimistic.
According to a report by global consulting firm PwC in January, early-stage investments accounted for 60-62% of the total funding in volume terms for 2021 and 2022. The average investment size per deal was $4 million, with early-stage investments contributing approximately 12% of the total funding value in CY22, up from nearly 7% in CY21, the report stated.
Ankur Pahwa, co-founder and managing partner of PeerCapital, is optimistic about the company’s fund timing. According to him, similar economic cycles have produced outstanding companies, and this vintage has the potential to create legendary companies due to several factors, including reasonable valuations, resilient entrepreneurs, and a focus on developing sustainable businesses.
With domestic institutional investors maturing, more funds can now raise larger funds to invest in startups. Family offices, high net worth individuals, and insurance companies are all investing in local funds. Refinitive data shows that India-focused funds raised $11.2 billion from investors last year, with the domestic pool competing with global investors to invest in new-age startups.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
