Former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl has launched his maiden VC fund, Eternal Capital, with a target corpus of ₹120 crore. The fund also includes a green-shoe option of another ₹120 crore, bringing its total capacity to ₹240 crore.
The sector-agnostic fund aims to build a diversified portfolio of ‘solutions for the future’, and plans to invest in 40 start-ups in their seed to pre-series A stages, over the next three years.
The fund has received SEBI’s approval for a Category-I AIF in November 2023, and has already received commitments from marquee operators and entrepreneurs such as Suhail Sameer (ex-CEO, BharatPe), Deep Kalra (Founder, MakeMyTrip), Tarun Mathur (Co-founder, PolicyBazaar), Adarsh Menon (President, ZoomCar), Nalin Negi (CEO, BharatPe), and Saurabh Vashishtha, Kunal Suri and Amit Bagaria (Founders, SimSim), among other.
Former early-stage angel
As a former early-stage angel, Dhruv has invested in over 50 start-ups since 2020 by partnering with several prominent funds and angels. Some of his portfolio ventures include Stupa Sports Analytics, Basic Home Loans, ApniBus, Volt Money, DrinkPrime, AdmitKard, GenWise, Vama, and Fleek, among others.
With an operator-led investment team, the fund will follow a broad co-investment thesis, which allows it to counter possible selection biases while expanding its existing network of investors and operators.
“Eternal Capital differentiates itself on the ‘colour of money’ by leveraging the social and intellectual capital of its investor base. The fund’s ability to advise and guide on diverse topics ranging across go-to-market, product, hiring and future fundraising, amongst other things helps accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies, which in turn drives superlative results for its investors,” said the company in its statement.
Post-PMF stage start-ups
It prioritises investments in start-ups led by seasoned operators, which are at a post-PMF stage and can demonstrate profitable revenue potential in the mid to long term.
“We are one of the first and few operator-led VC firms in India. Globally, operator-led funds have outperformed more traditional peers due to their ability to connect easily, engage deeply, and add incremental value to the founders and the ventures they back. Our approach to date has been no different making us not only a ‘partner of first choice’ for founders but also, the preferred co-investment partner for other funds,” said Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, Founder and Managing Partner, Eternal Capital.
The fund also puts a pro-investor approach at the centre of its vision, investment thesis, and fee structure. Eternal Capital aims to both, simplify and catalyse participation in India’s fast-growing start-up ecosystem.
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