Capria Ventures, a Global South specialist venture capital firm, has announced the completion of fundraising for its India Opportunity Fund at USD 19M or ( INR 153 crore) . This comes on the heels of a full-cash exit from its portfolio company Awign.
Founded in 2016, Awign helps over 175 enterprises run their businesses at scale through end-to-end management and outcome-based execution of core business functions. The company has seen 20x growth in revenue since Capria first led its Seed round investment in 2018. With its asset-light and easy-to-configure tech platform, Awign has also improved the lives of 1.5 million gig workers.
Surya Mantha, Managing Partner at Capria, said, “Awign has the winning combination of a large market, healthy gross margins, and a robust tech platform. Mynavi’s acquisition of Awign not only opens untapped markets and opportunities for the company but is also a great exit for our India Fund II, where we will return more than 50% of the invested capital through this one exit. The multiple on invested capital for Awign for our India Fund II is >7x. Additionally, our now closed India Opportunity Fund, which also invested in Awign in February 2023, will return more than 20% of the invested capital to its LPs.”
Capria and other investors in Awign, India’s largest tech-led, on-demand work fulfillment platform, have sold their stake in the company in a buyout by Japanese conglomerate Mynavi Corporation.
In February 2023, Capria achieved the first close of its India Opportunity Fund at INR 75 crore (announced originally as Unitus Ventures India Opportunity Fund before Capria and Unitus joined forces to operate as a single brand, Capria, in September 2023). Capital from the first close of this fund was invested in the breakout leaders of its early-stage funds (Capria India Fund I and Capria India Fund II), such as Awign, BetterPlace, Cuemath, Eduvanz, and Masai.
Dave Richards, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Capria, said, “Awign’s growth trajectory is an example of the disruptive innovation in job creation and income generation for Bharat, which is core to our investment philosophy. We’re incredibly proud to have played a role in Awign’s journey from its early days. This rewarding exit reinforces our confidence in our ability to unlock significant value for our investors. We are optimistic that this acquisition will prove to be a milestone for the Indian startup ecosystem and establish acquisitions as a viable exit strategy for early-stage investors.”
Capria Ventures invests in early and early-growth stage startups in the Global South (India, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia) across a range of sectors, including Fintech, Jobtech, Edtech, Agtech, Climate, and SaaS.