Venture Capitalist Stellaris Finishes Setting Up Third India-Focused Fund Which Amounts to $300 Mn

Stellaris Venture Partners, which has funded firms such as Mamaearth, Whatfix, Propelld, Turno, Dashtoon, and Kiwi, has closed its third India-focused fund for $300 million (about INR 2,534 crore).

Stellaris, founded by former Helion Ventures partners Ritesh Banglani, Alok Goyal, and Chowdhri, has LPs and backers include software titans Cisco and Infosys, as well as the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

The new fund will continue to drive seed and Series A fundraising investments in 25-30 firms over the next three years, according to the VC firm’s statement.

The third fund included existing Limited Partners (LPs) as well as fresh funding from worldwide investors such as university endowments, foundations, pension funds, and a well-known fund of funds, according to the release.

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Stellaris intends to use the new funding to support businesses in fields such as artificial intelligence, enterprise software, consumer technology, and financial services, among others.

The sector-agnostic firm also announced important leadership changes, with Naman Lahoty, a previous principal at the firm, promoted to partner. Vardhan Dharnidharka, a leading AI/ML engineer, has also joined as an investing principal and relocated to Bengaluru.

The new fund increases the VC firm’s total assets under management (AUM) to more than $600 million.

“Since we launched our fund, India’s startup ecosystem has revolutionized, with transaction flow increasing fourfold and a rise in repeat entrepreneurs and founders from successful startups. “With this new fund, we are excited to support founders who use technology to solve deep problems in large markets,” said Rahul Chowdhri, partner at Stellaris Venture Partners.

Since its inception in 2017, the VC company has created a portfolio of over 40 startups in industries including SaaS, consumer, financial services, B2B commerce, education, mobility, and healthcare.

Stellaris claims to have invested in 44 tech startups across two funds, with 60% of them at the conception stage.

Stellaris Venture Partners announced the closure of its second fund in August 2021, totaling $225 million.

Earlier this year, the VC company sold a 1% interest in Mamaearth’s parent business, Honasa Consumer Limited, in an open market transaction worth INR 140.61 crore.

According to National Stock Exchange (NSE) statistics, the VC firm sold 32,17,468 shares of Honasa Consumer Limited via its affiliate Stellaris Venture Partners S India I.

The transaction was completed at an average price of INR 437.04 per share, for a total value of INR 140.61 crore.

Following the purchase, Stellaris Venture Partners’ interest in Honasa Consumer was lowered to 4.78%, down from 5.78% previously.