Prime Venture Partners (PVP) on Wednesday announced its fourth fund of USD 100 million (about Rs 742.4 crore) that will invest in startups working in areas like fintech, edtech, consumer internet, crypto, electric vehicles and gaming infrastructure platforms. It has announced the first close of the fund at USD 75 million (Rs 556 crore), a statement said.
PVP had raised its first fund in 2012 of USD 8 million, followed by a USD 46 million fund in 2015, and the third fund of USD 72 million in 2018. PVP said it will continue to focus on being the first institutional investor, maintaining its deep-support investing model in early-stage technology startups.
“In addition to existing focus areas of Fintech, EdTech, HealthTech, Consumer Internet and Global SaaS, the firm expects to expand into new areas, notably Decentralised Finance (DeFi)/Crypto, Electric Vehicle and Gaming infrastructure platforms,” it added.
Prime also announced that it is actively looking to expand its leadership team by adding a fourth partner. Founded in 2012, by Shripati Acharya and Sanjay Swamy, Prime added Amit Somani as a partner in 2015.
Fund Four investors include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, a top-tier university endowment, several returning family offices and institutions, and numerous global technology entrepreneurs, it said.
The entire fund raise was done virtually.
The firm invests in only 5-6 companies a year. Portfolio companies work closely with all partners during the formative phase of the business, collaborating through the product-market fit phase and establish early growth.
The firm actively supports entrepreneurs with business and product strategy, refining operating metrics, hiring, partnerships, marketing, finance, all the way through raising subsequent capital.
While most of PVP’s portfolio companies are focussed on the booming Digital India opportunity, it also has several companies that target the US, Middle-East and other International markets, or that initially start in India and expand from India to other geographies.
Some of the notable portfolio companies include Quizziz, MyGate, MFine, Dozee, NiYO, KredX and WheelsEye.
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“We couldn’t be more optimistic about the depth of the entrepreneurial talent and the level of ambition among the founders in India, as they bring disruptive innovation, not only in India but to the world,” PVP Managing Partner Shripati Acharya said.
PVP Managing Partner Sanjay Swamy added that while the last decade was laying the foundation, the next decade is going to be spectacular as one witnesses the transformation of India to a digital superpower.
