NoBroker, Moglix backer Rocketship.vc raises $100 mn for second fund

By Joseph Rai

  • 12 Aug 2020
Team Rocketship

Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm Rocketship.vc, which has invested in Indian startups such as NoBroker and Moglix, said it has raised $100 million (Rs 745 crore) for its second fund that will invest globally.

The second fund is more than double the size of its debut fund of $40 million that was closed in 2015, Rocketship.vc said in a statement.

Limited Partners (LPs) in the new fund include Vulcan Capital and Adams Street Partners, a global private markets investment firm with assets under management of $41 billion.

Vulcan Capital is the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., which was founded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen.

The family office of American entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreesen and Chris Dixon, general partner at venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, also contributed to the fund.

The new fund will help Rocketship.vc to continue investing globally across different sectors and company stages. It will also enable the venture capital firm to increase its number of follow-on investments.

Rocketship.vc was founded by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, founders of Junglee (acquired by Amazon) and Kosmix (acquired by Walmart).

The firm has invested in 44 companies across seed, Series A and Series B rounds, with 46% of investments outside the US.

In India, Rocketship.vc has invested in around 10 startups, according to VCCEdge, the research arm of Mosaic Digital.

Its early investments included fashion portal Fynd, on-demand delivery services startup and auto-rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo. It later invested in companies such as business-to-business industrial goods marketplace Moglix and property listings portal NoBroker.

This year, Rocketship.vc invested in SME-focussed fintech startup Khatabook and mobility startup Yulu.

Rocketship.vc's fundraising is good news for Indian startups across early stages as well as those eyeing Series B investments amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In the April-June quarter, venture investments bore the brunt of the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus as they sank to at least a five-year low. However, angel and seed investors wrote cheques actively.

Last month, another global fund, B Capital Group, which has backed Indian startups such as Khatabook and Bounce, closed its second global fund after raising $820 million (Rs 6,168 crore) to invest in growth-stage ventures.