New Delhi, July 30 -- Peak XV Partners, a venture capital and growth investing firm that has scored some remarkable exits and a few forgettables ones over the past year, has now wrapped up a bet in the financial services sector with a loss.
The VC firm, which announced raising $1.3 billion across three new funds in February for investing in India and the Asia-Pacific, has sold its remaining stake in Go Digit General Insurance Ltd via an open-market transaction. It offloaded 5.7 million shares on Wednesday for Rs 139 crore ($14.5 million), stock-exchange data show.
The latest sale follows Peak XV's previous tranche in June, when it encashed Rs 100 crore by divesting about one-third of the 1% stake it held in the digital insurer before the Bengaluru-headquartered company's listing.
Go Digit, which also counts Canadian investment firm Fairfax, A91 Partners and Faering Capital among its backers, went public in May 2024. It made a lukewarm debut with its shares listing at Rs 286 apiece, 5.15% higher than the issue price of Rs 272. The shares touched a record high above Rs 400 in September 2024-when India's benchmark indices also hit record highs-but slipped thereafter. The shares are currently trading around Rs 254 apiece.
Peak XV sold Go Digit's shares at a lower price in the latest tranche, with the stock plummeting by 19% since the last sale in June, further contributing to the loss.
Overall, the VC firm has harvested Rs 239 crore ($25 million) on its four-year-old investment, booking a loss. The firm had invested Rs 297 crore (about $38 million then) in the company in May 2022 at Rs 328 per share. This reflects a loss of about 19.5% in rupee terms, VCCircle estimates show. In dollar terms, the loss would be around 34% due to the rupee's depreciation against the greenback.
Go Digit General Insurance offers motor, health, travel, property, and other insurance products. It first filed its draft red herring prospectus for an IPO in August 2022. However, its plans were delayed after stock market regulator SEBI put the proposal in abeyance and raised concerns over the legality of some share issuances. The company refiled its documents in March 2023 after addressing the concerns and got final approval in March 2024.
Meanwhile, the exit adds to Peak XV's liquidity moves over the past year. The VC firm has clocked partial or full exits from companies such as Meesho, Pine Labs, Wakefit, Groww, Mobikwik, Turtlemint, and Innovcare Lifesciences. It generated multibagger returns from ecommerce company Meesho, digital payments company Pine Labs, online brokerage Groww, furniture and home furnishings maker Wakefit, and insurance distributor Turtlemint. However, the VC firm's returns from Mobikwik and Innovcare were below par, VCCircle previously reported.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.