LetsVenture Launches Plus Investment Platform For HNIs, Family Offices

Deal syndication platform LetsVenture has launched a new product LetsVenture Plus specifically for ultra high net-worth individuals (HNI) and family offices to invest in growth-stage startups. The platform will also allow them to become limited partners in global funds.

The platform aims to bring curated and exclusive funding opportunities to HNIs and family offices at a ticket size suited to them, and also provide them with access to the asset class that continues to remain inaccessible, Shanti Mohan, chief executive of LetsVenture said.

“Family offices and UHNIs [Ultra-HNI] typically get access to growth-stage companies, or unicorns, by being an LP in a fund. We want to try and break that information and price arbitrage in the marketplace, and bring in greater transparency across the board,” Mohan added.

Nimesh Kampani, former executive vice president and head of investor relations at Kotak Mahindra, will be heading LetsVenture Plus as the president. “There was a need to cover the entire startup ecosystem, and what LetsVenture Plus will do is, look at all Series B transactions, and going all the way up to the unicorns. We will look at allocations for funding, and raise it from our network of investors,” Kampani said.

LetsVenture Plus is currently in stealth mode and is expected to be launched fully later this week. The invite-only platform already has about 500 investors on board and has already launched multiple deals, including an exclusive allocation in a global venture capital fund.

Besides this, LetsVenture, which was founded in 2013 by Mohan and Sanjay Jha, also has other offerings like LetsGrow, Angel AIF, LV Titans and MyStartupEquity. LetsGrow is a network of angel investors and industry experts to help early-stage startups identify the right metrics that they would need to target when they raise growth capital of $1 Mn to $5 Mn. Basically, the platform looks to help startups go grown seed stage to Series A/B rounds.

LV Titan, on the other hand, is to help family offices to access growth-stage startups and even differentiated global VC Funds for investment. Angel AIF (alternate investment fund) is a Category 1 AIF that allows angel investors to express an intent to commit a minimum of INR 25 Lakh over five years. Investors can broadly allocate INR 5 Lakh to the startup asset class every year for the next five years. The platform allows angel investors to invest amounts as small as INR 1 Lakh and diversify their portfolio further.

Besides this, LetsVenture had launched a MyStartupEquity tool, in January 2020, to allow startup founders and employees to manage employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).

Last week, Inc42 exclusively reported that LetsVenture is raising INR 2.4 Cr in debentures from angel investors like Neotia Group’s Parthiv Vikarm Neotia, Chand Trust’s Ashootosh Chand, Prickly Cacti LLP’s Ganesh Raju, Ravi Ramani, and more. The round was led by Legacy Assets LLP with its INR 1 Cr investment.