- VC firm to add a fourth partner; to continue to invest in early-stage 
technology startups

    Prime Venture Partners [https://primevp.in/], today announced its fourth 
fund of US$100 million, with a first close of $75 million (INR 556 crore). 
Prime had raised its last fund of $72M in 2018, a second fund of $46M in 2015 
and a $8M first fund in 2012. It will continue to focus on being the first 
institutional investor, maintaining its high-conviction and deep-support 
investing model in early-stage technology startups. In addition to existing 
focus areas of Fintech, EdTech, HealthTech, Consumer Internet and Global SaaS, 
the firm expects to expand into new areas, notably Decentralised Finance 
(DeFi)/Crypto, Electric Vehicle and Gaming infrastructure platforms. Prime also 
announced that it is actively looking to expand its leadership team by adding a 
fourth partner.

    Amidst the pandemic, the entire fund raise was done virtually and reflects 
the continued interest and support that Prime is drawing from institutional 
investors globally. Fund Four investors include the International Finance 
Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, a top-tier university 
endowment, several returning family offices and institutions, and numerous 
global technology entrepreneurs, reflecting the team's strong network of 
relationships across the industry in both the US and South East Asia.

    Founded in 2012 by Shripati Acharya and Sanjay Swamy, Prime added Amit 
Somani as a partner in 2015. With a view of bringing Silicon Valley style 
professionalism to venture investing, Prime's mission is to partner early with 
entrepreneurs and help build world-class technology companies that are 
addressing some of India's most important problems. Prime is typically the 
first institutional investor and focuses on companies with an innovative 
approach to solving fundamental problems through technology. The firm follows a 
model of being highly selective and invests in only 5-6 companies a year, after 
building deep conviction in entrepreneurs and their startups through a rapid 
yet thorough diligence process. A common theme among Prime portfolio companies 
is strong product and technology teams with unique insights and an ability to 
iterate rapidly. Portfolio companies work closely with all partners during the 
formative phase of the business, collaborating through the Product-Market Fit 
phase and establish early growth. The firm actively supports entrepreneurs with 
business and product strategy, refining operating metrics, hiring, 
partnerships, marketing, finance, all the way through raising subsequent 
capital. 

    Prime has a strong track record of investing in early-stage startups in 
India. As per the Cambridge Associates benchmarks, all of Prime's funds are in 
the top decile of all global VC funds of their respective vintages. Funds I to 
III are committed across 32 companies spanning sectors such as fintech, 
healthcare, SaaS, education and logistics. Most of these companies have gone on 
to raise strong follow-on rounds of investment from other leading institutional 
investors in India, Silicon Valley and Asia. While most of Prime's portfolio 
companies are focussed on the booming Digital India opportunity, Prime also has 
several companies that target the US, Middle East and other International 
markets, or that initially start in India and expand from India to other 
geographies. 

    Some of the notable Prime portfolio companies include the interactive 
learning startup Quizziz which is used by teachers in 120 countries and is 
backed by marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang 
and others. MyGate provides security software solutions for apartments that are 
being used across 20,000 societies and in 3.5 million households. Digital 
Health startup MFine is backed by SBI Holdings (Japan) & Heritas & clocks 
12,000 daily consultations with more than 600 hospitals as partners. Remote 
Patient Monitoring startup Dozee which is transforming the Indian public 
healthcare infrastructure, India's leading universal neobank NiYO, Pay-after 
placement management program Sunstone Eduversity are some of the other 
category-creating, high-growth startups in the Prime portfolio.

    Supporting Quotes:

    Shripati Acharya, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners
    
    "We have had the privilege of partnering with many of the category defining 
companies in India from their early stages such as Quizizz, MFine, MyGate, 
NiYO, KredX, and WheelsEye. We couldn't be more optimistic about the depth of 
the entrepreneurial talent and the level of ambition among the founders in 
India, as they bring disruptive innovation, not only in India but to the world."

    Sanjay Swamy, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners

    "We are humbled by the unambiguous support we received from several of our 
long-time LPs, and the interest by the select new long-term LPs who have joined 
us. While the last decade was laying the foundation, the next decade is going 
to be spectacular as we witness the transformation of India to a digital 
superpower. We're privileged to partner with some of the finest entrepreneurs 
in India and are super excited to work with many more founders of 
category-creating technology startups in the coming years."

    Amit Somani, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners

    "As India marches towards becoming a top-5 global economy by 2030 and 
leapfrogs the world through digital leadership, we believe the entrepreneurial 
ecosystem will drive this change. Prime has both the conviction and competence 
in early-stage investing and we aim to back companies that will lead this 
once-in-a-generation transformation. We see ourselves continuing to build Prime 
as the top-choice partner for early-stage entrepreneurs who are building 
category-defining companies and seek not only financial capital but also an 
active investor with deep conviction."

    About Prime Venture Partners

    Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage VC fund managed by partners with 
deep experience both as entrepreneurs and operators. Led by Amit Somani, Sanjay 
Swamy and Shripati Acharya, the fund is focused on building disruptive product 
companies out of India, and addresses a much needed gap in the Indian startup 
ecosystem - by bringing a combination of first-hand entrepreneurial experience, 
operating expertise and meaningful capital. Prime is a low volume, high 
conviction, high support investor and believes in backing star teams with 
differentiated ideas. Prime has a rich portfolio of category creating companies 
including Quizizz, MyGate, MFine, MyGate, Dozee, NiYO, Sunstone Eduversity, 
KredX, WheelsEye and others. For more information, please visit www.primevp.in.

    Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1601538/Prime_Venture_Partners.jpg 
    Logo: 
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1601537/Prime_Venture_Partners_Logo.jpg

    Source: Prime Venture Partners