US, India-focused Naya reaches first close on VC fund
Naya Ventures, a US-based VC firm that also invests in India, has reached a first close of $50 million on a fund targeting the mobile and cloud markets. Its approach involves providing capital and industry expertise to early-stage companies with a view to jump-starting growth.
The fund is headed by Dayakar Puskoor, formerly an executive at Microsoft, Prabakar Reddy and Gowri Shankar. All three are serial entrepreneurs who have helped develop a string of start-ups. At Naya they have co-invested with the likes of Menlo Ventures, Seapoint Ventures, Intel Capital and Deutsche Telecom Ventures.
"We are not a traditional incubator model, nor a traditional venture capitalist; we consult with our portfolio companies' management teams to identify areas in which Naya can help and go beyond opening doors for our portfolio companies," Puskoor said in a statement. "We do all that we can to build value. All of our portfolio companies have benefited by Naya's connections in getting strategic deals and partnerships, and kickstarting revenue opportunities."
Naya was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Dallas, with offices in Silicon Valley, Seattle and Hyderabad. Its portfolio currently consists of seven companies in the mobile and cloud space, including BoxFish, Zoomingo and Glympse.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.