HDFC Life Invest In DealShare Backer Z3Partners’ INR 500 Cr Tech Fund

Venture Capital firm Z3Partners has received an undisclosed investment for its INR 500 Cr fund-Z3Partners Tech Fund from HDFC Life. 

The tech-focussed venture capital fund will invest between INR 35 Cr and INR 80 Cr in tech-enabled and digital startups of India. It made its second closure of INR 250 Cr last year and is likely to make the final closure this year, according to the statement. 

Commenting on the investment, Gautam Patel, managing partner of Z3Partners, said, “HDFC Life is one of the most respected and credible financial institutions in India. We are excited to have HDFC Life onboard for this journey to invest in the best tech and digital companies that are backed by world-class entrepreneurs. We believe this endeavour will translate into providing support and leadership to the Indian startup ecosystem.”

Founded in 2019 by Gautam Patel, the Mumbai-based venture capital firm mainly infuses money on tech and digital startups working across diverse sectors. 

Some of Z3Partners’ previous investment bets are BigBasket, MedGenome, OFBusiness, Pepperfry, Cyfirma, DealShare, Gramophone, Shipsy, and True-Fan. Its portfolio also includes social ecommerce unicorn Dealshare. 

The latest investment comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem has turned bearish and funding has fallen across segments. Startups are witnessing low investors’ sentiments and are unable to raise larger funding rounds for the last few months. 

According to the Inc42 report, Indian startups have raised $19 Bn across 900 funding deals in the first half of 2022, which is a little less than half of $42 Bn cumulatively raised by startups in 2021. 

A few days ago, SoftBank Investment Advisers’ CEO Rajeev Misra also quit the Japanese investment giant to launch his own venture capital fund. Besides, a slew of venture capital funds such as $10 Mn Campus Fund II, All In Capital’s $10 Mn fund and KKR’s advisor Sanjay Nayar’s fund have also been rolled out.