India's Epiq closes first three investments
Epiq Capital, an India-focused private equity firm founded by Matrix Partners India co-founder Rishi Navani, has completed its first three investments in eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions, financial technology company Mswipe, and online home rental start-up NestAway.
Financial details of the deals have not been disclosed, but the Lenskart investment, in which TR Capital and Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital also participated, has been reported by Indian media to be worth up to $75 million. TPG Growth, Unilazer Ventures, and IDG Ventures India are said to have exited in the transaction.
TR’s investment follows a similar investment by the firm earlier this year, when the secondary specialist acquired a stake of more than 10% in Lenskart from both Unilazer and TPG. The company, which manufactures eyewear products and distributes them through its e-commerce channels and an offline network of over 400 stores, reported that it had reached profitability earlier this year.
Mswipe claims to be India’s largest payments solution and financial services platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with over 300,000 sales terminals across 750 cities. The company’s investors include B Capital Group, RNT Capital Advisors, Falcon Edge Capital, DSG Consumer Partners, and Matrix, all of which participated in its $40 million Series D round last year, along with Meru Capital Group, ANI Technologies, and Axis Bank.
NestAway operates an online home rental network, operating as broker, property manager, and full-service agent for homeowners with more than 14,000 homes under management. It raised a INR4 billion ($64.4 million) Series D round earlier this year with participation from Goldman Sachs, IDG Ventures, Tiger Global, and UC-RNT Fund, an entity associated with Indian business magnate Ratan Tata and the University of California.
Epiq focuses on growth and late-stage technology investments, partnering with entrepreneurs to scale companies into large, sustainable enterprises. The GP was founded by Navani after he left Matrix in 2016, 10 years after founding the firm alongside Avnish Bajaj.
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