PC: Arabian Business
Playbook Partners, the India-based growth capital fund, is about to further deepen its play in the Middle East. The firm is currently in hot negotiations with the region’s top institutional investors, including sovereign funds and family offices, for investing in its $250 million fund.
The size at which the fund would initially target could balloon considerably if these investors commit higher capital outlays. In the days ahead, Playbook will host investor meetings in major Middle Eastern cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh to seal these deals.
The fund is excited about investment opportunities in health tech, climate tech, or SaaS ventures in the region, especially if such ventures have a presence in India or have a plan to expand globally. The venture capital firms are focusing on India-based startups which might either already have some connections in the Middle East or have plans for entry into the region.
Vikas Choudhury, Founder and senior executive of Playbook Partners, is positive about sealing investment deals in the Middle East. According to him, they are actively in discussions with some of the prominent institutional investors, mainly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Further, he expressed hope of sealing the investment deals with a few of them soon.
Playbook has already raised over $130 million in its initial close within four months of launch and is seeking to exercise a $120 million green-shoe option. The fund’s promoter did not comment on whether the fund will exceed its targeted corpus of $250 million, but indications suggest the final corpus could be substantially higher.
Middle East as a Key Market
Playbook is now part of an expanding wave of Indian funds to bet their focus on the Middle East for the raising of capital. Choudhury said that this region, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, holds a great deal of value as an investment and source of funds.
The firm aims to set up a physical base in the Middle East, hopefully in Dubai. Going forward, the firm will consider setting up a region-specific fund should the Middle East prove to be successful.
Investment Thesis
Playbook will focus mainly on late-stage startups in the new-age tech sectors, especially those which are involved in digital transformation and disruption. The ventures must have strong distribution reach, market presence, and operational efficiency are some of the criteria for the fund.
Health Tech, Climate Tech and Fintech
Choudhury specifically identified health tech, climate tech, and fintech as exciting sectors in the Middle East. The Playbook will be interested in supporting startups in those sectors and their scaling globally or regionally, including in India.
Operator-Driven Approach
Unlike the other traditional venture capital firms, Playbook Partners is an operator-led fund. The management team at the firm has extensive experience in building and scaling large businesses. The firm operates not only to add capital but also partnership and strategic insights towards the growth of sustainable success for companies.
Playbook’s global investor base and momentum speak to its differentiated strategy and alignment with market opportunity. The fund, through their partnership with tech-enabled businesses focused on large market opportunities, can bet on playing a significant role in the growth and development of its region.
