Former Sequoia executives get $351 million for debut fund

BENGALURU: A91 Partners, a private equity firm set up by three former managing directors at Sequoia Capital India, has closed a $351-million maiden fund to invest in mid-market companies in areas like consumer, financial services, healthcare and technology. The firm will put in $10-30 million at a time, focusing on growth capital investments.
The firm has raised about 20% of the corpus from local investors like family offices and institutions, while the remaining 80% has come from endowments and fund of funds like Adams Street Partners, IFC and Asia Alternatives.
A91 was set up last year by V T Bharadwaj, Gautam Mago and Abhay Pandey — all three of whom had quit Sequoia Capital India between 2017 and 2018. The three had backed companies like hospitality major Oyo, snacks company Prataap and beer company Bira during their stint at Sequoia, the largest venture firm by assets in the country.
A91 has already closed two deals — cosmetics brand Sugar and Hector Beverages, which makes Paper Boat brand of drinks. The firm plans to build a portfolio of 15-20 companies.
“We are interested in companies which are serving middle India and can be meaningfully large,” Bharadwaj told TOI.