Early-stage B2B SaaS-focused venture capital Pentathlon Ventures has announced the launch of its second fund with a target corpus of Rs. 450 crores.
The fund aims to invest in 25 B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) start-ups.
Pentathlon Ventures will support solutions across enterprise digital transformation, e-commerce enablement, fintech, vertical SaaS, applied AI, sustainable tech, and healthtech, in the B2B SaaS space.
The venture is raising capital from a mix of domestic and global limited partners, encompassing business leaders, corporate firms, and institutions for Fund II.
Founded in 2020, Pentathlon Ventures has backed 23 start-ups, including Deeptek, Rezolve, Spyne, Dista, TurboHire and ShopSe, among others, through its first fund.
“The revenues coming from India-based B2B start-ups are expected to grow 25X in the next 8 years. With an impressive 50% faster time to revenue, better revenue predictability, and solid gross margins ranging between 70-80%, it presents extraordinary prospects of building sustainable businesses. In addition to these aspects, with our core expertise being in this space, early stage B2B SaaS companies built in India continue to be our primary investment thesis,” said Pentathlon Ventures’ Managing Partner Sandeep Chawda.
In August 2021, the VC firm closed its first fund, which had secured investments of Rs. 76 crore. The fund was oversubscribed.
“Couple of decades back, India was known for off-shore IT services. Later, B2C start-ups gained prominence because of India’s population/consumption story. Today, Indian B2B start-ups are on their way to become global leaders within this decade. Add to this the tailwinds from the global focus moving to India. We are truly on the cusp of a huge virtuous cycle,” said Gireendra Kasmalkar, Managing Partner, Pentathlon Ventures.