Falcon Edge Raises $45.7 Mn For India-Focussed Fund

SUMMARY

Falcon Edge’s India portfolio includes Ola, Dailyhunt and Bounce

The company made its first investment in India in 2014

The hedge fund manages $2 Bn assets globally

New York-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital has raised $45.7 Mn for its first India-focussed fund called Falcon Edge India I LP.

Falcon Edge India I LP will be a pooled investment fund that will focus on private equity investments. So far, it has 9 investors on board. However, it did not reveal the name of the investors or the capital Falcon Edge is planning to raise in the filings submitted to US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

However, media reports from January last year suggested that Falcon Edge was looking to raise $150 Mn to invest in financial services companies. Looking at Falcon Edge’s investment track record last year, though, it is unlikely that Falcon will restrict its focus to financial services. Last year, Falcon Edge invested in

The filings also highlighted that Falcon Edge India I LP was incorporated in 2018. Founded in 2012 by Richard Gerson, Navroz D Udwadia and Ryan Khoury, Falcon Edge invests in tech companies across all stages. It manages more than $2 Bn in assets globally.

Falcon Edge’s India Portfolio

Even though this is Falcon Edge’s first India-focussed fund, the company has been active in the Indian startup ecosystem since 2014.

Falcon Edge’s first investment in India was in real estate listing platform Housing.com’s $90 Mn funding round. The round was led by SoftBank and Falcon Edge had participated in the round with other undisclosed investors.

It is also an investor in Ola, where it participated in two funding rounds. including the $400 Mn Series E round led by DST Global and the $500 Mn funding round, which Falcon Edge Capital led. Tiger Global Management LLC and Softbank Corp had also participated in this round. The hedge fund has also backed Quikr before it entered the unicorn club. Falcon Edge had also participated in a $25 Mn Series C round in mobile payment services provider Mswipe.

Falcon Edge is also an investor in Bengaluru-based news and ebooks mobile app Dailyhunt. In 2018, it invested $6.39 Mn in the Series E round.

Its portfolio also includes Stanza Living, logistics optimisation startup Locus, dockless scooter-sharing platform Bounce, social commerce firm DealShare and vPhrase Analytics. In the fintech sector, it has invested in digital lender OfBusiness and non-banking financial company JM Financial Credit Solutions.