Prime Venture Partners raises Rs 400 crore

Prime Venture Partners, a Bengaluru-based  early stage venture capital fund, on Wednesday announced the close of its third fund at Rs 400 crore.  

Prime Venture Partners already has exposure in 19 companies, and has identified two Bengaluru-based startups to invest in with this  third round.

In an interaction with DH, Prime Venture Partners Managing Partner Amit Somani said, "Our focus is clear. FinTech, digitisation of India and global SaaS are the the sectors  we will focus on, and technology remains at the core  of our investment strategy."

The fund, which invests in up to 5 startups  in a year is willing to put in up to Rs 25 crore in each. "We typically like to be the first institutional cheque in the the startup, when we invest," he said.

Asked about the fund's position in the rather controversial crypotocurrency landscape, Somani said, "While the fund is not looking at cryptocurrency in any scheme of things, the underlying technology that strengthens it, viz. Blockchain could have great applications in FinTech, and we are looking into that significantly."  

The  fund has investments in several  FinTech startups, including Ezetap, happay, KredX, Moneytap, NiYO, SmartOwner and Afforplan.  

The  seven-year old fund, has marked one exit in ZipDial, whcih was acquired by Twitter in 2015.