Jupiter Capital to launch $150 million fund

BENGALURU:

Jupiter Capital

, which was the family office of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union minister of state for electronics and information technology, is morphing into a specialised fund with a focus on investing in

SaaS

companies.

David Abikzir

, the executive director and chief investment officer of Jupiter Capital, said Jupiter Capital will launch a $150 million fund called J1 Capital. The plan is to have the first close of $50 million in the first quarter of 2022-23.

“Jupiter Capital wants to become a billion-dollar asset manager in seven years and to be recognised as a global top investment firm. We are targeting disruptive B2B startups that leverage India’s strong technology ecosystem to build global products. We will invest early in the company lifecycle, typically in pre–Series A and Series A rounds where the company has a full product, customer traction, and insight into unit economics. We are associated with several family offices for J1 Capital,” Abikzir said.

Prior to Jupiter Capital, Abikzir worked with a $6 billion fund, CDC IXIS Private Equity, focusing on tech companies in Europe and the US. “Rajeev is an adviser on the board. We want to build an institution and not remain a family office,” he said. Jupiter Capital will invest $1 million to $10 million in each portfolio company. Abikzir said he will launch two more funds -- J2 Capital Fund and J3 Capital Fund with a size of $350 million and $500 million respectively.

The Indian SaaS industry has more than 1,000 companies, with over 150 companies generating an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over $1 million. A

Nasscom

report said pure-play SaaS firms have the potential to grow to $13-$15 billion in revenue collectively by 2025, from the current $2.5 billion. India has many SaaS unicorns, including Zoho, Freshworks, Postman,

HighRadius

, Druva, and

Icertis

.

"Indian companies today account for less than 3% of the $100 billion global SaaS market. India has a large number of B2B SaaS startups poised for massive growth. But lack of market insights and customer access causes 95% of Indian B2B startups to flatline at less than $10 million ARR (annual recurring revenue),” Abikzir said.

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