Venture capital firm Iron Pillar adds $45 million top-up to its first fund
- Through its Fund-I, Iron Pillar has made eight investments, and witnessed one exit from SaaS company, Now Floats, which was acquired by Reliance Jio in December
- Remote healthcare delivery and gaming continue to be interesting opportunites for investors, according to Iron Pillar
BENGALURU: Mid-stage, technology focused venture capital fund Iron Pillar has raised $45 million, as a top-up to its first fund.
Iron Pillar Fund-I held its final close in 2018, receiving capital commitments of $90 million.
The top-up fund will help the venture capital firm back specific Fund-I portfolio companies, which are doing well in current market conditions.
Iron Pillar was founded in 2017 by former Morgan Creek director Anand Prasanna, former Citigroup India investment banking head Sameer Nath, and former DFJ India head Mohanjit Jolly.
Through its Fund-I, Iron Pillar has made eight investments, and witnessed one exit from SaaS company, Now Floats, which was acquired by Reliance Jio in December 2019.
“The current crisis and its second order effects have reduced the amount of growth capital available for tech companies in India. While some may see this as a formidable challenge, we see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity for high quality tech companies with strong market position...Our top-up fund is a proactive step in that direction to add fuel to our well performing portfolio companies,” said Prasanna, managing partner, Iron Pillar.
Without disclosing names, Iron Pillar said three global institutions, including a global alternatives investor and one large European family office also participated in this top-up fund.
“Marquee LPs have decided to back the Iron Pillar vision especially in the midst of the current pandemic. This is a validation for the strength of our portfolio, credentials of our team and investment strategy, said Mohanjit Jolly, partner, Iron Pillar.
In February, Mint had reported that Iron Pillar was in talks to raise a top-up fund to invest in its existing portfolio of companies.
Iron Pillar led an investment of ₹60 crore in Mumbai-based edtech startup, Testbook in January, as part of its Series B round. It had also led a $20 million funding in Bengaluru-based online fish and meat retailer FreshToHome, in August.
In a recent interview with Mint, Iron Pillar co-founder and partner Mohanjit Jolly had said remote healthcare delivery and gaming continue to be interesting opportunites for investors.
“Majority of the portfolio is enterprise-centric with a B2B angle. We get involved in companies which are typically 4-5 years into their life cycle, our holding period could be anywhere between 4-6 years and then exit, primarily through merger and acquisition although if there is an interesting opportunity for us for a secondary sale,” added Jolly.
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