Announcing its entry into the micro VC category in India, Eximius Ventures, headquartered in New Delhi, has closed its maiden fund. While it started in March 2020, the fund now plans to invest $10 million in early-stage startups with approximately $300,000 equity cheque per startup.
Eximius Ventures team, including Founder & Managing Director, Pearl Agarwal, have an accomplished history of investing and enabling businesses with growth opportunities. With over 50 years of cumulative experience, the Eximius team now plans to invest capital in at least 25-30 emerging startups in the next three years. The fund is looking closely at startups in edtech, health tech, fintech, and gaming sectors as well as in high potential industries such as B2B SaaS and online media.
Micro VC as space is already matured in the US with a 230% increase in the number of micro VC funds closed in 2017 as compared to 2009. Micro VC space in India is still in its nascent stages. With the ecosystem expanding and more startups emerging every day, there will be a need for more such agile funds in the near future. These focused funds will need to develop deep knowledge and expertise in notable sectors so as to move swiftly at the same pace as the angel investors and write much bigger cheques compared to individual angel investors with the additional visibility of follow-up on funding.
Founded in March 2020, Eximius Ventures is headed by Pearl Agarwal. She brings along experience from her decade-long journey in the investment landscape in the US and UK, she worked with companies like UTIMCO ($40bn endowment fund), Merrill Lynch and Global Infrastructure Partners ($70bn PE fund). Currently, Pearl is an active angel investor with 10 companies in her personal portfolio across edtech, fintech, and gaming, among other sectors. Her notable investments include Trell, Exprs, Ewar, BluSmart Mobility, GroMo, Redwing Labs, Nexweave, Lattu Kids, and Infeedo.
Commenting on the first close of the fund, Founder & Managing Director, Eximius, Pearl Agarwal said, “As a fund investing in the pre-seed stage, we would primarily focus on addressing funding and accessibility gaps faced by startups and extend our support beyond capital to offer unconditional network access, expert guidance, help with future fundraising, and more. I am delighted to share that I have been able to create an Eximius community, which is strengthened by industry experts, thought leaders, and mentors who together create a nexus for founders to scale their startup.”
She added, “As a woman entrepreneur myself, I want to create ample growth opportunities for women founders in India and want to set a precedent for them to enable them to become equal partners in building a sustainable economy. Also, as a micro VC fund, we are open to smaller seed investments and are excited about nurturing young talent in the industry. We have seen that founders today are spending a lot of time chasing angel investors and facilitating supporting paperwork. This time can be better utilized in focusing on product development and innovation. This is the gap that we are aiming to bridge in the ecosystem through Eximius.”
As the next step, the fund wants to meet startups that have moved past their minimum viable product and have evidence of initial traction. Further, a strong founding team with relevant experience, initial market validation, and a view on the path to profitability adds additional merit to the entire evaluation criteria.
