Key Takeaways
- • Avataar Venture Partners announced a $100 million top-up fund, supplementing its initial fund raised in 2019 to invest in B2B and SaaS companies, and welcomed several large institutional limited partners across Europe and the USA.
- • Avataar's core strategy targets $10M to $30M growth-stage investments in B2B and SaaS companies with at least $15M in annual recurring revenue that aim to scale globally.
- • The firm acquired stakes in six B2B SaaS companies (Appnomic, Capillary, CRMNext, ElasticRun, Manthan and Zenoti) from Norwest Venture Partners in a bulk portfolio deal to kick off the fund.
- • Avataar led the Series C round for SenseHQ and the Series B round for RateGain, with participation from Accel, Google Ventures and TA Associates.
- • Avataar's partners attribute three portfolio companies reaching profitability to unit-economics interventions, and the firm added mobile industry veteran Mike Mulica as an operating executive.
Summary
Avataar Venture Partners (AVP) has formally announced a top-up fund of $100 million, according to a Business Wire release dated February 23, 2021. The capital supplements the larger funding round the firm closed in 2019 and will be used for strategic follow-on investments in star portfolio companies as well as new investments. The raise also brings several large institutional limited partners across Europe and the United States into the firm's portfolio.
The firm's core focus is growth-stage investments of $10 million to $30 million in business-to-business (B2B) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that have at least $15 million in annual recurring revenue and are looking to scale globally. Avataar describes itself as a growth-stage operational fund that partners with regional tech-led startups.
To launch the fund, Avataar acquired stakes in six B2B SaaS companies from Norwest Venture Partners in a bulk portfolio transaction: Appnomic, Capillary, CRMNext, ElasticRun, Manthan and Zenoti. The release also highlights recent deals in which Avataar led the Series C round for SenseHQ, an AI-powered talent engagement platform focused on high-volume hiring and the gig workforce, and the Series B round for RateGain, a travel and hospitality SaaS provider. Both rounds included participation from Accel, Google Ventures and TA Associates. Avataar also backed Heal Software Inc., whose new U.S. management team acquired the intellectual property and assets of Appnomic and pivoted the product toward an AI IT infrastructure operations platform (AIOps).
Mohan Kumar, founding partner of AVP, said the new LPs had committed additional capital less than eighteen months after the firm went live, despite remote-only interactions during the pandemic. Nishant Rao said Avataar's interventions on unit economics had helped three new portfolio businesses reach profitability, while other companies received support on growth engines and inorganic strategy. The firm also added Mike Mulica, a mobile and internet industry veteran, as an operating executive; he is a board member of Heal Software Inc.
AVP's team comprises Mohan Kumar, a former leader at Norwest Venture Partners and Motorola executive; Nishant Rao, previously COO of Freshworks and an executive at LinkedIn; and George Thangadurai, a former Intel executive. The firm was founded in 2019.
The firm's core focus is growth-stage investments of $10 million to $30 million in business-to-business (B2B) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that have at least $15 million in annual recurring revenue and are looking to scale globally. Avataar describes itself as a growth-stage operational fund that partners with regional tech-led startups.
To launch the fund, Avataar acquired stakes in six B2B SaaS companies from Norwest Venture Partners in a bulk portfolio transaction: Appnomic, Capillary, CRMNext, ElasticRun, Manthan and Zenoti. The release also highlights recent deals in which Avataar led the Series C round for SenseHQ, an AI-powered talent engagement platform focused on high-volume hiring and the gig workforce, and the Series B round for RateGain, a travel and hospitality SaaS provider. Both rounds included participation from Accel, Google Ventures and TA Associates. Avataar also backed Heal Software Inc., whose new U.S. management team acquired the intellectual property and assets of Appnomic and pivoted the product toward an AI IT infrastructure operations platform (AIOps).
Mohan Kumar, founding partner of AVP, said the new LPs had committed additional capital less than eighteen months after the firm went live, despite remote-only interactions during the pandemic. Nishant Rao said Avataar's interventions on unit economics had helped three new portfolio businesses reach profitability, while other companies received support on growth engines and inorganic strategy. The firm also added Mike Mulica, a mobile and internet industry veteran, as an operating executive; he is a board member of Heal Software Inc.
AVP's team comprises Mohan Kumar, a former leader at Norwest Venture Partners and Motorola executive; Nishant Rao, previously COO of Freshworks and an executive at LinkedIn; and George Thangadurai, a former Intel executive. The firm was founded in 2019.
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