CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti and Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal have become anchor limited partners (LPs) in Bengaluru-based Xeed Ventures, an early-stage fund managed by Sailesh Tulshan.
The INR 600 Cr fund, previously called as 021 Capital, has onboarded Premji Invest as another limited partner, ET reported.
The investment committee for Xeed will include Tulshan, Bansal, and Sacheti.
Xeed, a wordplay on “seed,” aims to invest amounts below $1 Mn and expects to make 20-25 investments from the fund. It will maintain its focus on enterprise, B2B, and fintech deals.
As much as 70% of the fund’s capital has already been pooled, and it has started making new investments. In addition to Bansal and Sacheti, other founders have deployed cash.
Xeed has finalised investments in startups such as Charcoal.inc, a direct-to-consumer brand, and Kredit.pe, a financial services startup.
In 2019, Tulshan formally launched 021 Capital. He had previously overseen the personal investments of Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal. This launch coincided with the sale of the online retailer Flipkart to the US retail giant Walmart in a mammoth $16 Bn deal.
021’s name was inspired on PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel’s philosophy on innovation and entrepreneurship captured in his famous book– Zero to One. Some of 021’s bets include Brightchamps, Spotdraft, Increff, Superk, Nymble, Oro, Pandorum, Bharatagri, among others.
This comes at a time when several prominent founders have launched or backed such venture capital funds. Other influential founders and operators who have either floated or supported funds include Nikhil Kamath from Zerodha (Gruhas), Sujeet Kumar from Udaan, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of the Flipkart group (limited partners in Tanglin Venture Partners), Girish Mathrubootham from Freshworks (Together), among others.
Zerodha cofounder Kamath also introduced a funding and mentorship programme for entrepreneurs under the age of 22, the WTF Fund. The fund will back young entrepreneurs working in the beauty, home, fashion and lifestyle segments.
Another group of entrepreneurs who have transitioned into full-time investors includes Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal from Snapdeal, who run Titan Capital.
The startup ecosystem witnessed a shift in investor sentiment in 2023, with 64 new funds, encompassing venture capital, micro-funds, and corporate VC funds, being announced and launched, totaling over $5.6 Bn. This marked a significant decrease from the previous year’s 126 funds, which had raised over $18 Bn for startup investments in 2022.
