SUMMARY
Preeti Sampat will lead Eximius’ investment strategy and decisions, taking a thesis-driven approach to investing in startups that have the potential to scale globally
She was one of the first few employees of Flipkart, where she gathered the experience of working with startups
Sampat started her entrepreneurial journey in 2018 when she cofounded a micro VC fund in the US
Pre-seed stage fund Eximius Ventures has appointed former Flipkart executive Preeti Sampat as its cofounder and general partner.
Sampat will lead Eximius’ investment strategy and decisions, taking a thesis-driven approach to investing in startups that have the potential to scale globally. She will also leverage her global network and insights to support the portfolio companies with follow-on fundraising, strategic hiring, and partnerships, the fund said in a statement.
Sampat pursued engineering at BITS Pilani, following which she worked in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector. She was one of the first few employees of Flipkart, where she gathered experience of working with startups.
“Preeti also possesses a profound grasp of the global venture and startup ecosystem, which will enable us to broaden our fund’s reach across geographical boundaries and extend our investment focus into AI/Gen AI, SaaS, health, and commerce,” said Pearl Agarwal, the founder and MD of Eximius.
Sampat started her entrepreneurial and investment journey in 2018 when she cofounded a micro VC fund in the US that invested in pre-seed and other early stage funding rounds of startups in the US and the Latin American regions.
Eximius claimed that half of Sampat’s investment portfolio startups have achieved annual revenue of more than $5 Mn.
Commenting on the appointment, Sampat said, “I believe that there is a huge opportunity for early-stage investing in India, especially in frontier tech sectors that can create impactful solutions for India and the world. I look forward to working with Pearl and the rest of the team to support exceptional founders who are building the next wave of innovation.”
Founded in 2020, Eximius counts startups like Skydo, VegaPay, Hood, Oyela, among others as its portfolio.
The development comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem continues to reel under the ongoing funding winter. Despite this, a number of new funds have been launched in recent times to invest in Indian startups at the opportune time. As per Inc42 data, 63 funds worth more than $5 Bn have been launched in 2023 so far out of which 46% are focussing on early-stage startups.
Meanwhile, a number of fund managers and partners are also leaving venture capital firms to start their own funds and even launch startups.
