LC Nueva Investment Partners Floats INR 150 Cr Fund To Tap Into Secondaries Market

LC Nueva Investment Partners has announced the launch of a new fund with a target corpus of INR 150 Cr (nearly $18 Mn), with an additional greenshoe option of INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn). 

It is pertinent to note that LC Nueva Investment Partners is a partnership between Singapore’s Lighthouse Canton and Delhi NCR-based Nueva Capital. 

Called LC Nueva Momentum Fund, the new fund will back 10-15 “high-growth” startups across Series A and Series B rounds. In a statement, the investment firm said that the momentum fund will primarily focus on “winners” from its previous LC Nueva Fund and secondary market transactions. 

“LC Nueva Momentum Fund focuses on investing in companies that have demonstrated improved operating performance and have become high-conviction investments within the LC Nueva Fund portfolio,” added the company.

Commenting on the launch, founding partner and chief investment officer (CIO) at LC Nueva Fund, Sohil Chand, said, “We are confident that our strategic focus on high-potential investments will position the LC Nueva Momentum Fund to achieve exceptional returns. By actively pursuing secondary opportunities alongside leveraging the strong relationships established through our previous fund, we are poised to navigate the current market dynamics effectively…”.

The developments come nearly a year after LC Nueva AIF announced the final close of its maiden fund at INR 350 Cr. As per the company, as many as half of the companies backed by this fund raised “up rounds” and reported a nearly 57% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in average revenues. 

The launch of the secondary market-focussed fund comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is witnessing a slew of secondary transactions. So far this year, investors have offloaded stakes in big names such as Capillary, Urban Company, Porter, Pocket FM, among others.

Even though many of these deals came at a discount, many others gained hefty returns on their bets. 

Meanwhile, the development also comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed a slew of new fund launches in the recent past. Just last month, Silicon Valley-based VC firm Tribe Capital joined hands with Indian investment firm Oister Global to launch a $500 Mn fund dedicated to secondary transactions. 

Prior to that, early-stage VC firm Capital A also launched its Fund II with a target corpus of INR 400 Cr. Meanwhile, another early-stage VC firm z21 Ventures also marked the first close of its $40 Mn Fund II at $20 Mn last month.