Facebook Cofounder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Closes $820 Mn Fund II

US and Singapore-based investment firm B Capital has announced the final close of its second fund at $820 Mn (INR 6,192 Cr) to invest in growth-stage startups.

Founded by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin and Silicon Valley investor Raj Ganguly in 2014, B Capital typically invests $10 Mn to $60 Mn in B2B and B2B2C companies across sectors such as enterprise tech, fintech, healthtech, consumer tech, transportation and logistics. Its portfolio includes 41 companies across Asia, Europe and North America. It has offices across San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Singapore.

Some of its portfolio companies are software company Journera, vulnerability intelligence platform Synack, logistics company Ninja Van, tech-savvy cafe Kopi Kenangan, digital mental health company SilverCloud Health and more. In India, the firm has invested in bike rental startup Bounce, SME bookkeeping platform Khatabook, software company Icertis, B2B packaging marketplace Bizongo and logistics unicorn BlackBuck.

“Asia is leading the world in digital innovation and is a mobile-first economy. As a global tech investor, we have the benefit of evaluating patterns and business models across the world…Our portfolio companies will form the backbone of the digital economy of India and SE Asia,” Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia of B Capital Group, told Economic Times.

Last year, the investment firm closed the first round of Fund II at $406 Mn from over 62 investors. Overall, the firm manages assets of about $1.4 Bn across its two investment vehicles, nearly $360 Mn coming in from its Fund I.

Ganguly, the managing partner of B Capital, said that although technology has already penetrated nearly every sector and aspect of daily life, the last three months under the shadow of Covid-19 have proved that there is still scope to meet extensive unmet needs when it comes to digitisation.

“We believe the next ten years will see a major shift in innovation as entrepreneurs examine industries and practices from new angles and find ways to accelerate connectivity between systems, companies and people,” Ganguly, managing partner at B Capital Group, said

Earlier last month, Bengaluru-based Arkam Ventures, formerly known as Unitary Helion, announced the first close of $43 Mn (INR 325 Cr) of maiden $92 Mn (INR 700 Cr) startup fund to invest in early-to-growth-stage startups in Series A, Series B stages across financial services, healthcare, food, agriculture, and mobility space.

According to a DataLabs by Inc42+ report, Indian startups raised $4.1 Bn across 208 funding deals in the first quarter of 2020, ending in March. This represented a massive dip in the total funding raised between March and April 2020 due to Covid-19. The total capital inflow plunged by a whopping 55% from $1.05 Bn in March to just $474 Mn in April and $222 Mn in May.