Nilekani-backed VC firm Fundamentum raises $227M in Fund 2

Fundamentum Partnership, the venture capital firm co-founded by Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal has raised $227 million for its second fund as it looks to invest in growth-stage startups.

The VC fund had raised $100 million in its first fund and followed an investment strategy on a concentrated portfolio. Fundamentum has unicorn startups such as Pharmeasy, Spinny in its portfolio.

In the second fund, Fundamentum plans to lead or co-lead $25-40 million investment rounds and invest in four-five startups each year. This VC firm typically invests in Series B or C stage.

On the launch of the second fund, Fundamentum co-founder and General Partner Nandan Nilekani said, “Digital acceleration, brought on by the pandemic, has dramatically increased technology spending across the world. India has all the ingredients in place—capital, entrepreneurs, stories of success, and liquidity. In this decade, we will see entrepreneurs making a material impact on the country at scale as the digital intensity of society increases. We are in the early stages of that journey.”

He further noted that Fundamentum will focus on entrepreneurs who are creating built-to-last companies out of India,

Fundamentum will focus on tech-driven tech-driven enterprises in the consumer internet and enterprise software space in India. The VC firm claimed that its portfolio of companies from the first fund has collectively raised over $1 billion in follow-on rounds.

Sanjeev Aggarwal, Co-founder, and General Partner, Fundamentum said, “The second fund is significantly oversubscribed….We like to back missionary entrepreneurs who have an unwavering focus on customer experience. A strengthened team and focus on emerging sectors such as Bharat Apps, SaaS and Clean-tech, among others, will enable us to propel growth of our investee firms.”

Fundamentum joins the list of VC firms like Sequoia, Accel, and Lightspeed which have raised fresh capital this year to invest in Indian startups.