Venture capital firm Rise Capital sets up shop in India
The VC firm is looking to take seed to Series B bets on Indian companies with a cheque size ranging from $100,000-$10 million from its third fund, Yasin, who quit Tiger Global in 2013, told ET.
The fund, which has backed global companies such as Facily, Kitopi, Kueski and Gaia, already closed two deals in India recently. It invested in TradeX, an investment app, and SaveIn, a neo-bank, as part of their larger seed stage rounds raised in the last one month.
“India is likely to contribute over 25% of our global portfolio,” Yasin said.
Tech startups in India will create well over $1 trillion in market capitalisation by 2030, he added. “India is probably five years behind China in development of the technology ecosystem.”
The firm, which raised a $100 million maiden fund in 2014, is now deploying out of its third fund that it mopped up in 2019.
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Though the amount remains undisclosed, sources said its size is $150-$180 million.
The firm invests in emerging economies such as Latin America, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia.
In 2020, Rise Capital had participated in a larger round of investment in Hopscotch, a children’s apparel brand, when it raised $25 million from investors led by Eduardo Saverin’s EE Capital.
“Every aspect of life is now being disrupted by tech. We are looking for internet-enabled business models. For instance, today, the ecommerce penetration in India is only 8% which is only one-fifth of that in the US and it is likely to grow 10x over the next five to 10 years. So, the opportunity here is huge,” Yasin said.
On a per GDP basis, the United States attracts five dollars of investment as against one dollar invested in India and hence there is a huge upside, he added.
India’s tech talent will help the country take the lead among other emerging markets, he said.
“Tech talent in India is very strong. Founders and teams have spun out (of established companies) to start their own ventures. A lot of tech talent used to migrate to the US but now people want to come back and start companies,” he said.
Although global liquidity seems to have dried up, India is a must-have market for a lot of global funds. In the last 18-24 months, crossover funds, hedge funds, and technology-focused funds have all set up shop in India, bringing in new pools of capital to back high-growth businesses.
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