Dallas Venture Capital Closes $80 Mn Early-Stage B2B SaaS Fund II, To Raise $50 Mn For Indian Startups

The Dallas and Hyderabad-based venture capital (VC) firm Dallas Venture Capital (DVC) has closed an $80 Mn fund, called the B2B SaaS Fund II, for early stage B2B SaaS startups. 

The VC firm is also raising a separate fund, the DVC India Fund 1, in India. It is raising $50 Mn for Indian startups through the fund and has already raised $20 Mn. 

DVC India Fund 1 has already made investments in enterprise skilling startup Disprz and anti-money laundering startup IntelleWings.

Dallas Venture Capital said that the US Fund II will invest alongside its $50 Mn India fund. Across both the funds, Dallas Venture Capital plans to invest $130 Mn across B2B SaaS startups over the next 4-5 years.

DVC will focus on early and growth stage startups in the B2B SaaS sector, with a focus on deep tech in the areas of cloud, AI/ML, XR, Data and other emerging technologies.

The VC firm plans to invest in one company per quarter for a total of approximately 20-25 companies over the next 4-5 years. DVC invests typically at the post-product market fit stage and its capital is focused on allowing startups to scale.

Founded in 2020 by Dayakar Puskoor and former Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala, DVC has invested in 27 startups previously across India and the US. It has also made 9 exits at the same time.

Neemuchwala said, “We partner with our portfolio companies as mentors offering strategic guidance during the most important phase of the startup’s journey to accelerate their revenues from $1 Mn to beyond $10 Mn through our time tested and honed DVC Advantage program leveraging our network of venture partners and advisors.”

(Funding) Winter Is Coming

Last week was a mixed bag for startup funds, as two VC firms – Eight Roads Ventures and Jungle Ventures – closed funds, while Sequoia decided to postpone its fund closure.

Eight Roads closed a $250 Mn fund aimed specifically at healthtech startups, while Jungle Ventures closed a $600 Mn fund for startups in India and SEA.

On the other hand, Sequoia pushed back the closing date of its $2.8 Bn India and SEA fund owing to financial irregularities and corporate governance issues being reported at many of the startups backed by it. 

Many VC firms have already sounded alarm bells over the expected slowdown in startup funding.

Last week, Y Combinator told its startup founders to “prepare for the worst” and ensure that their startups survive the upcoming funding slowdown. The early stage backer also suggested startup founders make their goal “Default Alive” – achieve profitability with current resources before running out of money.

Similarly, this week, Sequoia curated a 52-slides presentation deck titled “Adapting To Endure” for startup founders to adapt in the face of slowing funding and fears of a global recession. 

“This is not a time to panic. It is a time to pause and reassess,” Sequoia advised.