Epiq Capital closes its Second India Fund of $150 million to invest in Startups
Epiq Capital, founded by Rishi Navani, is hoping to close its second India fund of $150 million to invest in growth-stage firms, coinciding with increased activity in the technology investing market.
Epiq is looking for domestic funding for its new vehicle after investing in startups such as eyeglasses retailer Lenskart, news aggregation platform Dailyhunt, and health and fitness startup Curefit with its $100 million Fund-I.
According to people acquainted with the fund's thinking, this will be a departure from the strategy of its first fund, which was primarily funded by international limited partners.
Epiq began by purchasing secondary shares in established software companies, but it is now promoting itself as an investor that will typically take a 2% to 8% investment in late-stage tech companies in a combination of primary and secondary shares. The fund will invest $10-20 million in each of these businesses. It has so far backed six businesses.
“They have already received commitments and will likely do a final close by early next year,” sources said.
Navani, who cofounded venture financing firm Matrix Partners with Avnish Bajaj in 2006, founded Epiq five years ago. While the fund took a few years to get going, Epiq has been strategically investing in some of the larger companies since 2018.
By purchasing secondary shares from Chiratae Ventures, the firm acquired a stake in Lenskart when it was valued at $400 million. The company today has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion. According sources, the Mumbai-based firm is currently sitting on 3-5 times return on capital invested from other portfolio firms including Pristyn Care and Dailyhunt.
Epiq's fundraising comes amid a never-before-seen surge in Indian tech investments, with 28 unicorns (privately-held firms valued at $1 billion or more) added in the first nine months of this year. According to data source Preqin, Indian entrepreneurs raised $25.2 billion through September 9 this year, compared to $11.2 billion for the entire year of 2020.
Limited partners, who are fund investors, are also doubling down on India to get a piece of the action. On August 11, sources reported that Stellaris Venture Partners had raised $225 million for its second India-focused fund, nearly tripling the size of its first fund, which garnered $90 million four years earlier. A91 Partners has closed its second fund, which has a corpus of $525 million, which is approximately 50% greater than its first fund.
Epiq is looking for domestic funding for its new vehicle after investing in startups such as eyeglasses retailer Lenskart, news aggregation platform Dailyhunt, and health and fitness startup Curefit with its $100 million Fund-I.
According to people acquainted with the fund's thinking, this will be a departure from the strategy of its first fund, which was primarily funded by international limited partners.
Epiq began by purchasing secondary shares in established software companies, but it is now promoting itself as an investor that will typically take a 2% to 8% investment in late-stage tech companies in a combination of primary and secondary shares. The fund will invest $10-20 million in each of these businesses. It has so far backed six businesses.
“They have already received commitments and will likely do a final close by early next year,” sources said.
Navani, who cofounded venture financing firm Matrix Partners with Avnish Bajaj in 2006, founded Epiq five years ago. While the fund took a few years to get going, Epiq has been strategically investing in some of the larger companies since 2018.
By purchasing secondary shares from Chiratae Ventures, the firm acquired a stake in Lenskart when it was valued at $400 million. The company today has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion. According sources, the Mumbai-based firm is currently sitting on 3-5 times return on capital invested from other portfolio firms including Pristyn Care and Dailyhunt.
Epiq's fundraising comes amid a never-before-seen surge in Indian tech investments, with 28 unicorns (privately-held firms valued at $1 billion or more) added in the first nine months of this year. According to data source Preqin, Indian entrepreneurs raised $25.2 billion through September 9 this year, compared to $11.2 billion for the entire year of 2020.
Limited partners, who are fund investors, are also doubling down on India to get a piece of the action. On August 11, sources reported that Stellaris Venture Partners had raised $225 million for its second India-focused fund, nearly tripling the size of its first fund, which garnered $90 million four years earlier. A91 Partners has closed its second fund, which has a corpus of $525 million, which is approximately 50% greater than its first fund.
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