Orios Venture Partners has announced the final close of its Select Fund I. The funds have been raised from multiple family offices and institutions.
This is the third fund raised by the venture capital firm; it had earlier launched and closed two early-stage funds in 2015 and 2018. A pure technology fund, the investment areas include new commerce, technology-led financial inclusion, new media, gaming, consumer, and agritech, amongst others.
Rehan Yar Khan, Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners told YS, they will be focusing on — new commerce, healthtech, edtech, fintech, agritech, EVs, gaming, and digital brands.
“Partnering closely with tech entrepreneurs has always been a hallmark for Orios. Our proprietary #Misfits programme graduates companies into Series A, and the Select Fund aims to continue that partnership in the midstages to take companies to unicorn valuations and IPOs, all along creating alpha returns for our LPs,” said Rehan.
Orios’ Select Fund I invests between $4 million and $8 million per company. It primarily does follow-on investments into its existing companies. Some of these have been late-stage to pre-IPO companies. So far, the Fund has invested in Series D and E rounds of Pharmeasy, which has now announced plans to launch its IPO in the next nine months, Series B and C rounds of Country Delight, and the Series C round of GoMechanic.
“We are delighted to have raised this fund in record time, despite COVID-19 lockdowns. India is seeing unprecedented growth in the technology space and we will continue to be important players in it,” said Rajeev Suri, Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners.
Rajeev Suri, Managing Partner at Orios Venture Partners
It has also invested in Mobikwik’s recent round in March 2021 which has already seen follow-on investments at over 40 percent from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA); and the pre-IPO of Nazara Technologies.
“The pandemic is a short-term phenomenon, which should be over by January 2022. Our long-term vision of an India that runs on technology is what we are focused on. The tech adoption accelerated due to the pandemic,” said Rehan.
The firm’s portfolio companies also include gaming company Zupee, agritech company Krishify, digital health company Beato, retailtech company Gully Network, fintech company MoneyOnClick, and EV-battery-as-a-service company Battery Smart.
“The year 2021 will go down in history as the year India’s tech IPO story started. With our portfolio company Nazara having IPOed, and Pharmeasy and MobiKwik on course to an IPO, along with half-a-dozen other companies, we are tremendously excited about what the future holds,” said Anup Jain, Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners.
