Prime Venture to increase focus on start-ups working in logistics, SaaS

Prime Venture has closed 9 fintech deals of its total portfolio of 20, remains bullish on financial services space which is undergoing digitisation

Venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners is planning to increase its focus on start-ups working in logistics and SaaS (Software as a Service) space, apart from edutech and health segments.

The Bengaluru-based firm, which has closed nine fintech deals of its total portfolio of 20, remains bullish on financial services space which is undergoing digitisation.

“Our theme is usually if the sector is getting digitised and whether the firm has a compelling use case. In this regard, apart from financial services, you will see a lot from us in health care, logistics and education space,” said Sanjay Swamy, co-founder and managing partner at Prime Venture Partners. “Also, we are quite bullish on start-ups in the SaaS segment, which are based out of India and are selling overseas. Probably, we will do some deals in this segment next year,” he said.

Swamy, who worked with Unique Identification Authority of India as a volunteer during its inception, said his firm would continue to invest in fintech space.

Prime Venture Partners was founded in 2011 and closed its first fund in 2012 with a corpus of $8 million. The firm raised $46 million in 2015. In the latest round in March, it raised $60 million from investors. “We raised $60 million well before the previous fund got exhausted. We will not require further capital for around another two years. We have investors who are thinking for the long term and don't have any pressure for exits,” Swamy said, adding the company had enough reserve capital for doing follow-on rounds in some of its portfolio companies.

The company had one exit so far in one of its earlier portfolio companies, ZipDial — a mobile marketing firm — which was acquired by Twitter in 2015.

Prime Ventures has invested in online lending firm MoneyTap, digital payments start-up Ezetap, B2B software provider Synup, and online skill assessment portal HackerEarth, and fintech start-up NiYO solutions. The company has also invested in AffordPlan and mfine, which work in the healthcare segment.

This year, it has infused $2.5 million in myGate, which offers mobile-based security solutions for gated communities. “Several of our portfolio companies are breaking even or can break even if they choose to, but they are investing in growth. However, almost all companies are having solid revenue flows. So, if push comes to shove, they can break even quickly," Swamy said.