India's Kae Capital raises $50m opportunity fund
Indian seed investor Kae Capital has confirmed closing an opportunity fund with USD 50m in commitments less than a year after closing its third flagship fund at USD 94m.
LPs in the new vehicle, called Winners Fund II, include Velo Partners of the UK and 360 One, formerly IIFL Wealth & Asset Management. Several individuals are also involved, including Henry Kravis and Hemendra Kothari, founder of DSP Investment Managers.
Individual investors representing healthcare organisations featured prominently, among them senior executives at Ajanta Pharma and Max Healthcare, as well as investee companies HealthKart and Tata 1MG. Kae, historically a sector-agnostic firm, did not say that healthcare would be a special area of interest.
Kae closed its third flagship fund in October, with about 40% of the capital coming from overseas. Velo, a longstanding backer, joined a group including fellow UK investor Old Mutual Wealth as local entities such as HDFC Holdings, SIDBI, and SRF Family Office among others.
Winners Fund II will write cheques of USD 1m to USD 3m in existing portfolio companies at the Series B through D stages. Some capital will be allocated to perceived market leaders outside the portfolio. It has made at least two investments to date, including mental health chatbot Wysa and HealthKart, which raised a USD 135m round in December.
“The most significant advantage we have is that we know these companies intimately for as long as 10 years,” Sasha Mirchandani, founder and managing partner at Kae Capital, told The Economic Times in a story reposted by the VC firm on social media.
“Therefore, there's no uncertainty, as we understand the entrepreneur’s approach and every aspect of the company's business. This makes it comfortable for us to write a cheque.”
Mirchandani is recognised as one of India’s first standout angel investors, having backed companies such as mobile advertising player InMobi, online fashion retailer Myntra, and data service provider Fractal Analytics. He established Kae in 2012 and reportedly raised USD 25m for a debut fund.
Kae’s second flagship fund raised USD 53m in 2017. Its first follow-on fund was launched in early 2019 with a target of about USD 14m, according to AVCJ Research.
The firm has invested in at least 81 start-ups to date, with the current portfolio enterprise valuation now said to top USD 8.7bn. In addition to HealthKart and Wysa, standout investments include manufacturing jobs marketplace Zetwerk and logistics provider Porter.
Mirchandani also contributed to the establishment of Elev8 Venture Partners, a Series B and C investor led by former Kae investor Navin Honagudi. Elev8 reached a first close of USD 67m on its debut fund last month. The target is USD 200m.
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