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z21 Ventures Raises $20M in First Close of Second Fund, WestBridge Capital Anchors Investment

• ByStartupStory     |    September 21, 2024

Early-stage venture capital firm z21 Ventures has successfully raised $20 million in the first close of its $40 million second fund. The fund aims to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups, with a focus on artificial intelligence, enterprise software, and healthcare sectors. WestBridge Capital, a prominent investment firm, has come on board as the anchor investor for this fund.

Founded in 2022 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Raj Singh, Abhinav Shashank, Jyotika Gupta, and Sudarshan Ravi Jha, z21 Ventures is committed to supporting innovative startups with both capital and community-driven expertise. The firm’s first fund, which raised $5 million, has already been fully deployed across 26 startups.

On the successful fundraise, Raj Singh, Co-founder and Managing Partner at z21 Ventures, stated, “This successful fundraise is a validation of our community-led model and our track record of identifying and supporting promising early-stage companies. We look forward to supporting entrepreneurs to build and scale purposeful companies by bringing the power of community and capital.”

The founders of z21 Ventures bring a strong entrepreneurial background to the firm. Abhinav Shashank is the Co-founder and CEO of Innovaccer, a healthcare-focused SaaS unicorn, and Raj Singh was part of the leadership team at Innovaccer as well. Sudarshan Ravi Jha is the Co-founder of LetsTransport, a logistics startup. Their experience and leadership in the startup ecosystem position them as key players in the early-stage investment space.

z21 Ventures is adopting a community-focused, operator-led investment model, with plans to raise additional capital from industry operators and experts who will mentor and support the founders. Sumir Chadha, Co-founder and Managing Partner at WestBridge Capital, said, “z21 Ventures is well-positioned to succeed, and their community-focused and operator-led model can provide valuable support for early-stage founders and help build category-defining companies.”

The firm aims to build a strong network of limited partners who will provide deep expertise and mentorship to help founders in their early stages. Jyotika Gupta, Partner at z21 Ventures, highlighted the importance of their ecosystem, saying, “Our limited partner community helps us with early access to incredible founders and provides founders with deep functional and strategic expertise, strong connections and a supportive ecosystem in their initial journey. We are on a mission to unlock value for founders through a robust ecosystem.”

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