SUMMARY
A91 Partners was launched by former Sequoia Capital executives VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago
It is looking to raise between $250 Mn and $330 Mn in commitments
It plans to invest in ten to fifteen startups in the early growth and late stages
US-based private equity and venture capital International Finance Corporation (IFC) is looking to invest around $25 Mn (INR 177 Cr) in Bengaluru-based venture capital fund A91 Partners, according to alerts sent by paper.vc founder Vivek Durai.
A91 Partners is looking to raise between $250 and $330 Mn (INR 1,774 Cr and INR 2,342 Cr) in commitments to invest in ten to fifteen startups in the early growth and late stages. The venture fund is planning to invest across startups working in consumer goods and services, healthcare, financial services and technology.
The fund will be managed by 4Point9 Capital Advisors LLP. It has been structured for overseas and domestics LPs with a Mauritius-based A91 Partners Fund and an India-based A91 Partners Trust.
A91 Partners was floated by former senior executives from Sequoia Capital, VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago in 2018. The company with a maiden fund worth INR 2000 Cr had announced its plans to begin investing from early 2019. It is planning to invest about $10-30 Mn (INR 70.9 Cr- 212 Cr), especially in Series-B stage startups.
Both Bharadwaj and Mago had earlier worked together at the McKinsey and spent a decade as collegues at Sequoia Capital.
They have been part of the investments in companies like Prataap Snacks, Hector Beverages, Star Health Insurance, OYO Rooms, Indigo Paints, and Ola Cabs among others.
In January, it was reported that A91 Partners had invested INR 60-70 Cr ($8.4 Mn-$9.8 Mn) in Mumbai-based make-up brand Sugar Cosmetics which marked its first investment.
Recently, an ET report said that a group of venture capital funds including A91 Partners, NewQuest Capital Partners and TR Capital are in separate talks to acquire a minority stake in Hector Beverages which owns popular drink brand Paper Boat
In November 2018, A91 Partners also roped in Kaushik Anand who served as the India head of US-based venture capital company Capital G. Anand who was set to take up his new responsibilities from early 2019, will mainly focus on technology, healthcare, and the financial services sectors at A91. It was also reported that former analyst at Sequoia India Prasun Agarwal will also be joining A91 Partners.
This development comes in at a time when many investors are coming up to support the growing Indian startup ecosystem.
Last month, Delhi-based angel investor Dhianu Das has announced the launch of his venture capital fund, Alfa Ventures with a corpus of INR 100 Cr ($14.08 Mn). The fund will be focusing on supporting homegrown early stage startups.
Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal who exited the company after Walmart-Flipkart deal had also launched his new venture – BAC Acquisitions Pvt Ltd – along with his friend Ankit Agarwal to invest in agritech and fintech sector along with other new businesses.
It was recently reported that Bansal has invested $35.16 Mn (INR 250 Cr) each in Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) namedAltico Capital India and IndoStar Capital Finance via BAC Acquisitions.
