Trifecta Capital announces first close of late-stage venture capital fund

VC firm Trifecta Capital announced the first close of its late-stage venture capital fund - Trifecta Leaders Fund – I, with commitments of over Rs. 1,000 crore (approximately $130 million). The fund was launched three months ago and has a target corpus of Rs 1,500 crores (approximately $200 million).

The First Close saw participation from domestic investors including large corporates, insurance companies, marquee family offices, UHNIs, and entrepreneurs. Existing investors of Trifecta Capital’s venture debt funds have also made significant investments in this fund. For the balance Rs 500 crore (Rs $70 million), the VC firm is in discussions with several domestic and global institutional investors.

Rahul Khanna, managing partner, Trifecta Capital, said, “Through this new Fund, we aim to provide investors access to the value creation opportunity in the last leg of private to public journey of tech companies. With strong institutional investor interest in India internet, we expect listings of several large well known startups, and creation of liquidity for existing investors as these companies tap the public markets for their longer term financing needs.”

Trifecta Leaders Fund – I will invest in a targeted set of category leaders, selected predominantly from Trifecta Capital’s portfolio across its venture debt funds where the firm has proprietary knowledge of the businesses as well as deep relationships with founders and investors. The fund will invest Rs 100-200 crore ($15–30 million) each in around 10-12 companies for minority stakes, through a combination of primary and secondary positions.

In addition to primary infusions, the VC firm will cater to the needs of late-stage companies by providing off-cycle liquidity to early investors, angels, current and former employees including consolidation of equity cap tables.

The fund leadership team comprising Rahul Khanna, Nilesh Kothari and Lavanya Ashok has extensive lifecycle investing, operating and entrepreneurial experience across global institutions like Canaan Partners, Accenture and Goldman Sachs. The firm is building a team with strong capabilities for the execution of this late stage equity investing strategy. It has already onboarded Lavanya Ashok as partner (ex-MD Goldman Sachs, Principal Investment Area) and Surbhi Garg as a VP (previously at Reliance Jio Strategic Investments), and is in the process of augmenting the team with strong private and public markets investing expertise.

The fund has also set-up an advisory board comprising global tech experts who will support portfolio companies as they navigate their path to liquidity. With a term of only five years, Trifecta Capital believes this fund provides a unique investment opportunity for investors, both domestic and offshore, to partner with India’s new economy category leaders that are already executing at scale, and will continue to grow significantly over this decade.  

Trifecta Capital, across its two venture debt funds, has invested in over 75 companies and its portfolio now comprises of 20 unicorns and soonicorns including Big Basket, Pharmeasy, Cars24, Vedantu, Infra.Market, ShareChat, DailyHunt, UrbanCompany, CarDekho, Blackbuck, Ninjacart, NoBroker, Kreditbee, Dehaat, Turtlemint, Livspace, Mobikwik, Ixigo and BharatPe amongst several others.

These companies, cumulatively valued at $22 billion, have raised over $8 billion in equity from marquee, global VC funds and have created substantial value in the digital economy.  

With the launch of Trifecta Leaders Fund-I, the firm is extending its platform capabilities as a lifecycle capital provider to the startup ecosystem.There are over 50 unicorns in India, up from five in 2014 and expected to grow to 100 by 2025.

Nilesh Kothari, managing partner at Tridecta Capital, said, “With the addition of this fund, Trifecta Capital is truly a lifecycle partner to startups, starting with venture debt at the early growth/ growth stage and then with equity financing at the late stage.”

On Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 11:13 AM Shivani Shinde <shivanishinde@gmail.com> wrote:

Trifecta Capital announces the First Close of its late-stage VC Fund

BS REPORTER

Mumbai, July 29

VC firm Trifecta Capital announced the first close of its late-stage venture capital Fund - Trifecta Leaders Fund – I, with commitments of over Rs. 1,000 crore (~$130 million). The Fund was launched 3 months ago and has a target corpus of Rs 1,500 Crores (~US$ 200 million). 

The First Close had participation from domestic investors including large corporates, insurance companies, marquee family offices, UHNIs, and entrepreneurs. Existing investors of Trifecta Capital’s Venture Debt Funds have also made significant investments in this Fund. For the balance Rs. 500 crore (~US$ 70 million), the VC firm is in discussions with several domestic and global institutional investors.

Rahul Khanna, Managing Partner said, “Through this new Fund, we aim to provide investors access to the value creation opportunity in the last leg of private to public journey of tech companies. With strong institutional investor interest in India internet, we expect listings of several large well known startups, and creation of liquidity for existing investors as these companies tap the public markets for their longer term financing needs.”

Trifecta Leaders Fund – I will invest in a targeted set of category leaders, selected predominantly from Trifecta Capital’s portfolio across its Venture Debt Funds where the Firm has proprietary knowledge of the businesses as well as deep relationships with founders and investors. The Fund will invest INR 100-200 Crores (US$ 15–30 million) each in around 10-12 companies for minority stakes, through a combination of primary and secondary positions.

In addition to primary infusions, VC firm will cater to the needs of late-stage companies by providing off-cycle liquidity to early investors, angels, current and former employees including consolidation of equity cap tables. 

The Fund Leadership Team comprising Rahul Khanna, Nilesh Kothari and Lavanya Ashok has extensive lifecycle investing, operating and entrepreneurial experience across global institutions like Canaan Partners, Accenture and Goldman Sachs. The Firm is building a team with strong capabilities for the execution of this late stage equity investing strategy. It has already onboarded Lavanya Ashok as Partner (ex-MD Goldman Sachs, Principal Investment Area) and Surbhi Garg as a VP (previously at Reliance Jio Strategic Investments), and is in the process of augmenting the team with strong private and public markets investing expertise. 

The Fund has also set-up an advisory board comprising global tech experts who will support portfolio companies as they navigate their path to liquidity.With a term of only five years, Trifecta Capital believes this Fund provides a unique investment opportunity for investors, both domestic and offshore, to partner with India’s new economy category leaders that are already executing at scale, and will continue to grow significantly over this decade.  

Trifecta Capital, across its two Venture Debt Funds, has invested in over 75 companies and its portfolio now comprises of 20 unicorns and soonicorns including Big Basket, Pharmeasy, Cars24, Vedantu, Infra.Market, ShareChat, DailyHunt, UrbanCompany, CarDekho, Blackbuck, Ninjacart, NoBroker, Kreditbee, Dehaat, Turtlemint, Livspace, Mobikwik, Ixigo and BharatPe amongst several others. 

These companies cumulatively valued at $22 billion have raised over $8 billion in equity from marquee, global VC funds and have created substantial value in the digital economy.  

With the launch of Trifecta Leaders Fund-I, the Firm is extending its platform capabilities as a lifecycle capital provider to the startup ecosystem.There are over 50 unicorns in India, up from 5 in 2014 and expected to grow to 100 by 2025. 

Nilesh Kothari, Managing Partner said, “With the addition of this Fund, Trifecta Capital is truly a lifecycle partner to startups, starting with Venture Debt at the early growth/ growth stage and then with Equity financing at the late stage.”