- New fund provides investors a unique opportunity to invest in high-performing companies in their growth “hockey-stick” phase and to co-invest alongside other marquee investors.
- Investors participating include Mynavi Corporation of Japan, Mr. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy of Cyient, Mr. Nandkumar Seksaria of Govindram Brothers, and other new and returning investors.
- Already committed capital to BetterPlace, Cuemath, Masai, Awign and Eduvanz.
- Outperformers in Unitus’ portfolio have grown into category/sector leaders and have been showcasing more than 25% QoQ growth since 2021.
Bengaluru, 9th February 2023: Leading early-stage VC firm, Unitus Ventures has achieved the first close of around INR 75+ crores towards its first ‘Opportunity Fund’ which will be utilized to back the breakout leaders from Unitus’ portfolio of 39 companies funded from its two early-stage funds – Unitus Ventures Fund I & Unitus Ventures Fund II. This first commitment reflects the robust confidence of marquee investors such as the Mynavi Corporation of Japan, Mr. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy of Cyient and Mr. Nandkumar Seksaria of Govindram Brothers among others, in Unitus’ strategy of doubling down on the startups across Jobtech, Fintech, Edtech & AI, that have shown exemplary performance, starting with 5 companies – BetterPlace, Cuemath, Awign, Masai, and Eduvanz.
Unitus is targeting INR 300 crore (40M USD) in the final close later this year.
Speaking about his decision to invest, Mr. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Founder Chairman and Board Member of Cyient, a highly successful engineering services company valued over INR10,000 crores, Chairman Board of Governors (BOG) of IIT Hyderabad and Roorkee said,
“I liked Unitus’ investment thesis. Educating our youth and preparing them for the rapidly evolving job market is probably the single biggest challenge and opportunity for India in the next decade. Outcome oriented education and jobtech are at the core of Unitus’ investment strategy. Also, I resonated with their commitment to building enduring value, and not chasing valuations.”
Hidekazu Ito, the India Head of Mynavi, a $2 Billion Japanese conglomerate offering a plethora of services related to education and jobs, added: Mynavi’s mission is to help shape the future by engaging individual potential in all walks and at all stages of life. Education and jobs are core to this.
As we entered the India market, Unitus was the natural partner, given their expertise, networks and unparalleled portfolio of startups. We also align with their commitment to identifying and supporting startups with sound business models that can create value over the long term.
Surya Mantha, Managing Partner, Unitus Ventures highlights, Despite the tough macroeconomic environment, most of Unitus’ portfolio companies have grown sustainably because of their strong unit economics and unwavering focus on profitability.
Top performers have shown impressive growth of more than 25% QoQ since Jan ’21. We want to further bolster the performance of select leaders such as BetterPlace, Cuemath, Awign, Masai, Eduvanz with the capital raised from the first close of the Opportunity Fund.
Additionally, up to 20% of the Opportunity Fund’s capital will be available for promising deals outside of Unitus’ existing portfolio. This will enable us to explore opportunities in early-growth or growth-stage companies (Series A+ onwards) that are capitalizing on advances in Generative AI and Climate technologies.
When I look back, I’m proud of what we started and how we stayed ahead of the curve. We invested in Jobtech, Fintech and Edtech starting in 2013 when investing in these sectors wasn’t mainstream.
Looking back at our journey, we are pleased to see how these businesses have grown and are now attracting substantial capital from marquee investors including Sequoia, BII (formerly CDC), Microsoft M12, and Google’s CapitalG. Today, they are trailblazers in sustainable value creation, global expansion, and delivering steady returns, even during turbulent times. added Will Poole, co-founder and Managing Partner, Unitus Ventures.
About Unitus Ventures
Unitus Ventures is a leading venture fund in India that supports early-stage tech startups bringing the future of work to Bharat. Unitus Ventures drives growth and success of startups in Jobtech, Fintech, SaaS and Climate sectors. Launched in 2012, Unitus Ventures is a founding member of Capria Network, the leading venture network investing in extraordinary tech startups of the Global South. Unitus Ventures is based in Bangalore. More at: https://unitus.vc and http://capria.vc/network
