Iron Pillar’s Sameer Nath Launches TrueScale Capital Growth Stage VC Fund

Sameer Nath, cofounder of growth-stage venture capital firm Iron Pillar, has launched TrueScale Capital, a new VC fund that will focus on Series B and Series C stage investments in growth startups. The firm will be headed by Nath, who is the managing partner of Iron Pillar’s maiden fund for India. 

The TrueScale team includes the entire team of Iron Pillar Fund I based in Mumbai. Besides early-stage investors, TrueScale will seek to partner with proven founders who are demonstrating meaningful revenue and growth in large target markets. It will invest in consumer and enterprise technology companies being built out of India. 

“It is the right time to launch our investment firm considering that Iron Pillar India Fund I is almost fully deployed. This is an opportune juncture to invest in India technology. We are enthusiastic about the Series B/C investing opportunity and the high-quality deal pipeline we are developing,” said Nath, who will be the managing partner at TrueScale Capital. 

According to an analysis by the VC firm, Series B and Series C funding in India (with round sizes up to $25 Mn) have been increasing steadily, from $454 Mn in 2016 to $1 Bn in 2020, representing a CAGR of 22%.

But as the Inc42 Plus report titled, “Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2020” showed, in 2020 the average ticket size of investments in Indian startups was $12.4 Mn, which is 21% lower than previous year’s $15.7 Mn. Growth stage funding also fell by 51% in 2020, compared to the previous year, while deal count fell by 5%. 

In 2020, Indian startups recorded total funding of $11.5 Bn, which is 10% lower than in 2019 but across 924 deals, which is 14% higher than the previous year. As predicted in an earlier Inc42 Plus report — The State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem 2020 — in an optimistic scenario, the total funding amount in 2020 would have stood around $11.3 Bn (11% lower than the previous year), but the startup ecosystem performed slightly better than expected. 

Earlier this year, Chennai-based growth private equity firm TVS Capital Funds announced the final close of its TVS Shriram Growth Fund III, with a total AUM target of INR 2,000 Cr (roughly US $300 Mn). TVS Capital claimed that the fund is the largest rupee-only capital fund. It made three investments in 2020 — INR 200 Cr investment in GoDigit General Insurance Limited in February; INR 50 Cr in DCB Bank in May; and, a top-up round for LEAP India Private Limited in June.