Panthera Growth to raise US$250mil second fund

• Targets to raise US$250 million by end of fiscal year
• To partner consumption, enterprise services businesses

Panthera Growth Partners has announced the first close of its second fund, having secured commitments for more than half of the target raise. 

In a statement, the tech-focused growth investment firm said the fund’s target has been set at US$250 million (RM1.1 billion) and is expected to be reached by the end of this fiscal year. 

The fund will offer up to 100% of fund commitments in co-investment opportunities, it said.

The company said the fund’s investment objective is to partner with next generation consumption and enterprise services businesses with vast growth potential. 

Panthera said the fund’s capital will be invested in companies that have achieved product market fit and are seeking to accelerate market growth. 

Panthera said the fund will also deploy approximately US$20 million (RM87.9 million) on average in 10 to 12 individual portfolio companies across India and Southeast Asia.

[RM1 = US$0.239]

Backed by institutional investors from India, EU and USA, the fund will seek to back entrepreneurs who typically employ market transformational ideas propelled by technology. 

According to the company, the fund has been formed to build upon the investment track record and philosophy of the firm by focusing upon investments in growth stage technology-enabled companies that are, or are poised to become, leaders in their respective markets.

Panthera was founded in 2021 and its first fund raised US$84 million from global institutional investors.  That was largely deployed across sector leading companies such as BigBasket, Pepperfry, Zivame and OfBusiness, among others. 

Shilpa Kulkarni (pic, above), founder and managing partner, Panthera Growth Fund, said Panthera is a growth equity investor focused on revenue-generating enterprises that are building scalable businesses having achieved product-market-fit. 

“At Panthera, we believe that operating thought partners are just as important as capital at this growth stage.

“With our teams’ experience of investing and operating companies in the startup ecosystem for more than two decades, we look to support entrepreneurs and management teams as they embark on an ambitious growth journey,” she said.