Joining the growing list of Indian PE and VC firms that have ramped up their activity following the period of uncertainty surrounding large funding rounds in the Indian startup ecosystem, homegrown private equity fund Creaegis recently announced the final close of its maiden fund at $425 million (~Rs 3,500 crore).
The fund has been backed by leading family offices from India, the US, Europe, and Asia, along with prominent institutional investors like the International Finance Corporation (IFC). According to a statement by founder Prakash Parthasarathy, almost half of the Maiden Fund’s corpus is from domestic investors.
The founder shared that the fund will largely be sector-agnostic and will invest capital in growth-stage Indian startups. The firm will infuse capital with an average ticket size ranging between $25 million and $40 million. With the fund corpus, the firm will double down on its portfolio winners. The aim is to back up four startups annually while building a portfolio of about 12–15 companies.
“We are going to be sector-agnostic and will focus on areas of digital transformation, with use-cases involving solving inefficiencies. We will look to back solid, resilient business models and will continue our journey of investing in great founders,” said Parthasarathy in an interaction with The Economic Times.
About Creaegis
Founded in 2018, Creaegis was established by former Premji Invest managing partner and chief investment officer (CIO) Prakash Parthasarathy. Through Premji Invest, Parthasarathy has invested in many prominent brands; like eyewear brand Lenskart, fashion marketplace Myntra, and software unicorn Amagi.
With the intention of investing in growth-stage startups, Creaegis has delegated almost one-third (approx. $142 million) of its corpus towards some prominent names in its portfolio. These include healthtech platform Medikabazaar, insurtech startup Zopper, and enterprisetech startup Kale Logistics, among others. Only last week, the PE firm led a $30 million Series B round of Kale Logistics.
Creaegis’ fund closure comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is facing uncertainty around large funding rounds due to global macroeconomic headwinds, such as rising inflation and interest rates. In stark contrast to 2021, both the public and private markets are course-correcting. Deal pricing corrects, and valuation expectations have become more realistic.
Though Creaegis is not the only player joining the late stage funding race, PE funds including TPG, Premji Invest, and Apis Partners have led large rounds in digital lending businesses including EarlySalary, KreditBee, and Money View.