New Delhi, May 11 -- Early-stage focussed venture capital firm a99 (formerly Artha99), which is raising Rs 1,000 crore (around $105 million) for its third investment vehicle, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of a new partner, VCCircle has learnt.
The Chennai-headquartered VC firm, which invests across pre-Series A to Series B stages, has promoted its principal consultant Asha Venugopal to partner.
Venugopal joined a99 in July 2022 as a principal consultant. At the firm, she has been involved in fundraising, pipeline building, and deal evaluation.
Before joining the firm, she worked independently with private equity professionals and founders on fundraising strategy, investment research and financial modelling. Her earlier stints include investment banking firm Spark Capital and consulting assignments with IFMR.
Founded in 2021, a99 now has a three-member partnership team that also includes managing partner and founder Vignesh Shankar and Ganesh Sathyamurthy. The latter oversees fund operations, compliance, finance and investment thesis development.
Prior to its official launch, the firm raised its first fund in 2020, followed by a second fund with a $12 million target in 2022. The current and largest fund to date was launched earlier this year.
The VC firm focuses on startups operating across manufacturing, industrial technology and infrastructure sectors. Through its third fund, it is aiming to back 12-15 startups from pre-Series A to Series B stages, with cheque sizes ranging from $5 million to $10 million.
The firm's portfolio includes electric motorcycle startup Raptee, solar manufacturing startup Aditya Avartan, industrial AI startup Intangles, battery materials startup Innocule, enterprise AI startup Lyzr AI, and diagnostics startup EzeRx.
It has also reported a 7x exit from one of its portfolio companies, London-based digital transformation firm Futurice UK. Futurice UK, a subsidiary of Helsinki-based Futurice, repurchased a99's stake held through Fund I as part of the exit.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.