A91 Partners closes maiden fund at $351M
Founded by former executives of Sequoia Capital, A91 Partners will focus on the mid-stage investment segment.
A91 Partners, the venture capital fund set up by three former managing directors of Sequoia Capital, have announced the closure of its maiden fund at $351 million.
A tweet by A91 Partners said, “Pleased to announce the close of A91 Fund I at $351 M. We are excited about the opportunity ahead of us, and look forward to partnering with founders building enduring businesses for tomorrow’s India.”
A91 Partners was set up VT Bharadwaj, Abhay Pandey, and Gautam Mago last year. The venture capital fund is focused on mid-stage investments in Series B and C deals with funding in the range of $10-30 million.
The team of A91 Partners
In the Indian startup ecosystem, there are quite a few venture capitalists who are focused on the mid-stage of investment. Besides A91 Partners, other VC funds operating in a similar space include Mirae Global Asset Management and Iron Pillar. Apart from this, there are quite a few seed stage funds and a handful of late stage funds as well.
A91 has already made two investments – Sugar Cosmetics and Hector Beverages, the makers of Paperboat brand of drinks.
The venture capital fund's focus will be in consumer, healthcare, and financial services.
The funding momentum in India continues to remain positive. This is reflected in other investment houses such as WestBridge Capital, Multiples PE, Kedaara Capital, Chrys Capital, and Nalanda Capital, which have all mopped up $400 million or more for their first funds, and are counted among the most successful risk investors focused on the India market.
According to the Economic Survey, the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a funding of $7.5 billion in 2018 as compared to $4.3 billion in 2017 though the number of deals has actually saw the decline in this two year period. In the first quarter of 2019, the Indian startup ecosystem recorded a total funding of $3.42 billion across 174 deals.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)
