Kae Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm, has successfully closed its Winners Fund II (KWF II) with a total of $50 million (INR 410 crore) in funding. The primary goal of this fund is to participate in growth-stage funding rounds for startups within Kae Capital’s portfolio, as well as other market-leading companies. Notable investors include Velo Partners and Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR. KWF II aims to invest in a total of 20 companies. With an impressive track record of investing in 81 startups, Kae Capital has helped build a portfolio with a combined enterprise valuation of $8.76 billion.
Early-stage venture capital firm Kae Capital has closed its Winners Fund II (KWF II) by raising $50 Mn (INR 410 Cr) to co-invest in its portfolio startups in their growth stage funding rounds.
Investors including Velo Partners, VM Thapar Family Office, KKR cofounder and co-executive chairman Henry Kravis, 360 ONE, HealthKart founder Sameer Maheshwari, Max Healthcare founder Abhay Soi, DSP Group founder Hemendra Kothari, and Tata 1mg’s Prashant Tandon and Tanmay Saksena infused capital in the fund, the firm said in a statement. The VC firm said that KWF II was also oversubscribed like all its previous funds.
“We have launched this fund in order to continue backing our best founders, alongside other successful founders in the ecosystem, who are not yet a part of the Kae family,” said Sasha Mirchandani, partner at Kae Capital, announcing the closure of KWF II.
Kae Capital has been investing in Indian startups for over a decade now. It is a sector-agnostic fund that invests in pre-Seed to pre-Series A rounds with initial cheque sizes typically ranging between $1 Mn-$3 Mn. The VC firm said that KWF II would also provide a similar ticket size but with an upward limit of $4 Mn. It’s a sector-agnostic fund.
KWF II, unlike Kae Capital’s regular funds, will invest in startups of its previous funds. Hence, with this fund, the VC firm won’t lead any rounds but rather co-invest with other growth-stage funds in Series B, C, and D rounds, the statement added.
In addition to its own portfolio, Kae Capital would also invest in other market-leading companies with KWF II, it said. The fund has already invested in HealthKart, Wysa, Brightchamps, and Disprz. Through KWF II, the VC firm aims to invest in 20 companies.
Kae Capital, launched in 2012, has invested in 81 startups in total, including Porter, Zetwerk, Nazara, and Tata 1mg, among others. Its portfolio enterprise valuation stands at $8.76 Bn. Kae Capital has also made 14 exits.
In November last year, Kae Capital announced the final close of its third fund at INR 767 Cr. The announcement comes at a time when the startup ecosystem has witnessed the launch and closure of several funds over the last few months.
Earlier this week, private equity firm Xponentia Capital announced the final close of its Xponentia Opportunities Fund II after it raised INR 1,000 Cr from investors. Early-stage VC Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India also raised $541 Mn for its fifth fund.
Prior to that, Pentathlon Ventures announced the launch of its second fund, while Unicorn India Ventures announced the first close of its INR 1,000 Cr fund III. Recently, gradCapital launched its $6 Mn second fund to invest in student startups.
As per experts, VC, angel, and PE investors have announced 52 funds worth over $3.8 Bn till August to support Indian startups at various stages despite the funding winter.
