Homegrown venture capital firm Kae Capital said that it has fully exited its first India-focused fund after portfolio companies Porter and HealthKart delivered multiple times the fund’s capital through recent secondary transactions, making Fund I one of the strongest performers among early-stage vehicles in India.
The 2012 vintage Fund I backed 32 startups across India and the US. According to the firm, the vehicle delivered a distribution to paid-in capital (DPI) of 3.6x as of September 2023, while the overseas vehicle is on course to cross 5x.
The VC firm said logistics startup Porter alone returned more than twice the fund’s capital, while health and nutrition platform HealthKart matched the fund’s size in returns. Other notable exits from the fund include Dailyrounds, a social-platform for healthcare professionals; Fynd, a retail-tech platform; Airwoot, social-media management platform; and Eventifier, which helps with event planning and organising.
The portfolio also includes 1MG, now one of India’s largest digital pharmacies, and Certa, a compliance and risk automation platform expanding in global markets.
Kae Capital's first fund, launched in 2012, had a size of $25 million (around Rs 132.5 crore then). The vehicle helped attract about $900 million in follow-on investments across its portfolio, which has generated a combined enterprise value of around $2.7 billion and created over 50,000 jobs, according to the firm.
“Seed investing in India was at a nascent stage when we raised Fund I. Delivering top-decile DPI [distribution to paid-in ratio] on that first vehicle marks an important milestone for us and our partners,” said founding partner Sasha Mirchandani.
The firm said Fund I laid the foundation for its current investment model, which emphasises early-stage conviction and long-term engagement with founders.
Following Fund I, Kae launched two subsequent funds. Fund II-backed companies such as Zetwerk, Nazara Technologies, and Snapmint, while Fund III includes emerging consumer and B2B startups such as Traya, Foxtale, and RecommerceX.
Across all three funds, Kae claims to have backed over 90 startups, including three unicorns, that together have generated more than $7.7 billion in enterprise value and attracted over $2 billion in follow-on capital.
“Fund I’s results demonstrate the compounding effect of patient early-stage investing,” said Gaurav Chaturvedi, partner at Kae Capital.
The firm, which manages more than $250 million in assets, said it continues to focus on sectors such as AI, intelligent automation, manufacturing, and deep tech as it positions for the next phase of India’s innovation cycle.
