Dharana Capital closes second growth fund raise of $250mn corpus; to invest in tech, consumer startups
Dharana Capital has raised a $250 million growth fund to invest in Indian tech and consumer businesses, following its first fund of $160 million in 2022. The firm said it aims to support founders build durable businesses and take them public.
Mumbai: Dharana Capital, which has backed startups such as Urban Company, Zomato, LAT Aerospace and Pet Pooja, has raised its second growth fund with a corpus of $250 million to continue investing in tech and consumer businesses in India.
The investment firm will continue to back founders building large and standalone listed businesses, its founder and managing partner said. "We believe India’s listed tech market cap will grow multi-fold over the next decade as more new-age enterprises go public," Vamsi Duvvuri said in a statement on Monday.
The firm stressed on it long-term approach with portfolio companies, backing founders and teams to build durable businesses, and preparing them for transition to public markets.
The new fund comes nearly four years after Dharana Capital raised its first fund with a corpus of $160 million in 2022. With an aim to invest in 8-10 companies through each fund, its cheque sizes have varied depending on the business need, the firm said in an emailed statement to Mint.
Though its portfolio has a large chunk of tech and consumer businesses, the firm is largely sector agnostic with a focus on companies that can become profitable on a standalone basis. Most of its team it based in Bengaluru; it has a second office in Dubai.
Surge in fundraising activity
The surge in fundraising activity aligns with a broader revival in Indian private equity and VC markets over the past 12-18 months. Several private equity and venture capital firms, including Kedaara, ChrysCapital, Stellaris Ventures, India Quotient, Sixth Sense, Prime Ventures, Accel, A91 Partners, Cornerstone VC, Fireside Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, InCred Alternative Investments, and Bessemer Venture Partners, have launched new funds.
Others such as Lok Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Peak XV Partners, WEH Ventures, Blume Ventures, and Avataar Venture Partner are in various stages of fundraising, Mint reported in May last year.
Broadly, India-focused venture capital (VC) funds raised about $2.5 billion across 20 new vehicles in calendar 2025, outpacing the $1.6 billion secured via 16 funds in 2024 and $1.9 billion across 19 funds in 2023. Although the pace of final closes has ticked up only marginally, more managers are back in the market to raise funds, in an indication that investors expect deal activity to gain momentum over the next few years.
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