Venture Catalysts Exits B2B Automotive Parts Marketplace Koovers With 2.1X Returns

Investment firm Venture Catalysts (VC) on Monday (September 11) said it has fully exited B2B automotive marketplace Koovers with 2.1X returns in 1.5 years.

Venture Catalysts invested in Koovers in early 2022 in its pre-Series A funding round through its Angel Fund. In a statement, the investment firm said it exited Koovers after the latter’s acquisition by Schaeffler India.

Last week, Schaeffler India said it has completed the acquisition of 100% stake in KRSV Innovative Auto Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates Koovers, for INR 142.4 Cr.

Founded in 2015 by Vinayak YB, Sandeep Begur, and S Prem Kumar, Koovers’ B2B ecommerce platform supplies auto spare parts to independent auto workshops (IWS). 

As per Schaeffler India’s exchange filing, Koovers garnered a revenue of INR 77.7 Cr in FY22-23. The startup supplies auto parts to over 7,000 workshops and has a portfolio of around 1.8 million parts from various manufacturers. 

Besides Venture Catalysts, Koovers raised funding from Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd, Rajiv M Sanghvi of PPS Group and Naveen Philip of Kuttukaran Homes in its pre-Series A round last year.

Commenting on the exit, Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, founder and MD of Venture Catalysts, said, “We invested in the company for a long term but the acquisition was a great exit opportunity with over 2.1X returns in just 1.5 years in a market that’s facing a longish funding winter and a liquidity crunch. These opportunities to the investors creates a huge positive impact in the entire ecosystem.”

Venture Catalysts, founded in 2016 by Sharma, Anuj Golecha, Anil Jain and Gaurav Jain, invests $250K–$2 Mn in early stage startups. Since inception, it has invested in over 300 startups with a cumulative valuation of over $10 Bn.

Recently, it announced a partial exit from B2B skilling startup Cusmat with 4.2X returns in less than three years. The early stage venture capital firm said it earned an extended internal rate of return (XIRR) of 60% through the deal.

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