Zerpearl VC raises Rs 159 Cr in final close of pre-seed maiden fund
The fund, which had an initial target of Rs 80 crore, was oversubscribed more than 3.5X with commitments exceeding Rs 280 crore.
Zeropearl VC, founded by ex-Titan Capital Partner, Bipin Shah, has raised Rs 159 crore in the final close of its pre-seed fund.
The maiden fund had an initial target of Rs 80 crore and was oversubscribed more than 3.5X its target. It garnered commitments exceeding Rs 280 crore before the firm capped the target corpus at Rs 150 crore.
More than half of the capital was pooled in from 31 founders, including 18 unicorn founders, and 21 entrepreneurs from IPO-listed or IPO-bound companies, including Aman Gupta, Co-founder and CMO of boAt.
Many of these founder-LPs were a part of Shah’s earlier portfolio companies. These partners will also provide operational guidance and mentorship to portfolio companies of the firm.
“I’ve known Bipin for 7 years, and what has always stood out is how deeply founder-friendly he is. At the pre-seed stage, when no one is picking up your call and it’s just you against the world, Bipin is that guy who shows up. Now, as he takes the solo GP plunge, I’m excited to back him and see him build a genuine pre-seed institution,” Gupta said in a statement.
Zeropearl has already begun investing from this fund, and has even announced seven of these companies, which include Gully Labs, Supply6, Cura Care, and Zanskar. To date, the firm has backed 20 companies.
The new fund plans to invest in 45 startups across sectors; the goal for majority of these companies is to raise follow-on capital within 12 to 15 months.
According to the firm, Shah has only backed about 0.5% of the companies he has evaluated each year, targeting performance consistent with realised internal rate of return of over 50% in the past decade.
“My five years at the Entrepreneurship Cell, including leading Eureka!, Asia’s largest business plan competition, gave me exposure to multiple founder journeys, helping me develop empathy and belief in their potential. Back in 2012, I saw a huge gap in pre-seed funding in India, and since then, I’ve dedicated my life to supporting founders at this stage,” Shah said in a statement.
Edited by Swetha Kannan