A91 Partners closes $665 million third fund, its largest yet

Homegrown investment firm A91 Partners, which has backed companies like Blue Tokai Coffee, Rare Rabbit, Paperboat, Atomberg, has raised $665 million from its Fund III, making it the investor’s largest ever fund since it was launched in 2018. This is among the fastest scaleups in terms of fund size for a domestic investment fund and comes amid an overall cautious private funding market.

ET had first reported about A91's Fund III looking to mop up its biggest corpus in March 2024.

Post splitting from Sequoia Capital India ( now Peak XV Partners) the Mumbai-based firm had raised $350 million for Fund-I, followed by a $550 million investment vehicle which was launched in 2021.


Founded by former Sequoia India managing partners Abhay Pandey, VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago, A91 Partners with a focus on investing in companies across technology, consumer and financial services. “We started A91 in 2018 with the following beliefs — patient capital will play an important role in accelerating value creation in Indian businesses across sectors. We also believed in the opportunity to create a world-class Indian investment firm — for founders who are aiming to build large enduring businesses from India. All these beliefs have been strengthened over the last six years,” A91 Partners said in a LinkedIn post.


Returns & Exits

A91’s partial exits include the ones from energy-efficient small appliances brand Atomberg in a round led by Temasek and Steadview Capital and spice maker Pushp where Nikhil Vora’s Sixth Sense Venture bought a secondary stake from the fund. Other significant bets include Sugar Cosmetics, software firm Exotel, pharmaceutical company La Renon, and silver jewellery-focused startup Giva. Among its portfolio, Digit Insurance went public in May last year.

In January this year, Silicon Valley venture capital fund Accel India, an early backer of Flipkart and Swiggy also closed a $650 million fund. Others like early-stage investor while Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and 3one4 Capital also hold large reserves.

Matrix Partners India (now known as Z47) had also closed a $550 million fund in 2023.

This trend reflects broader dynamics in the Indian venture capital ecosystem. In 2024, Bluestone investor IvyCap Ventures, former KKR India CEO Sanjay Nayar’s Sorin Investments and climate-focused Avaana Capital also announced sizable fund closures.