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Pentathlon Ventures Announces Final Close Of Maiden Fund At INR 76 Cr Fund would be investing INR 75 lakhs to INR 3 crore on an average

By Prabhjeet Bhatla

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Pentathlon Ventures

Pentathlon Ventures, an early-stage B2B SaaS-focused VC firm, on Wednesday, announced the final close of its first Fund, which has secured investments totaling INR 76 crore. The Fund has been oversubscribed.

The platform plans to invest in more than 20 business-to-business (B2B)software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups in a year and make investments between INR 75 lakh and INR 3 crore on average.

The firm's investment strategy is based on a fundamental, value-oriented approach. It invests in companies that have a proven product-market fit, possesses strong intellectual property, and display the potential for market disruption. As such, the Pentathlon fund serves as a critical link between the Seed round and Series A/B funding.

"We appreciate the confidence and trust our investors have shown in our team and strategy. Not to mention the unwavering support of the brilliant entrepreneurs who continue to partner with us," said Gireendra Kasmalkar, managing partner, Pentathlon Ventures.

All the managing partners at Pentathlon are "founders-turned-funders' and take an active role in all material aspects of the early-stage business-building process. Tech entrepreneurs turn to the fund's founders for their deep domain knowledge, extensive global reach, and hard-won experience in scaling various tech ventures.

One of the fund's primary goals is to identify and collaborate with those who exhibit the "DNA of Scale'. Startups who possess this unique trait show a deep understanding of their market as well as their limitations. Their founders, too, are dynamic and innovative, and they operate with agility, relentlessness, and speed.

"We are proud to say companies in our portfolio showed great resilience during the recent pandemic downturn," shared Saurabh Lahoti, managing partner, Pentathlon Ventures. "Their solid performances coupled with the consistency of our investment strategy are what I think ultimately struck a chord with a world-class pool of investors," he added.

Started by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, this Pune-based fund will continue to focus on early-stage B2B SaaS startups. Industry veterans Gireendra Kasmalkar, Sandeep Chawda (Globant India), Madhukar Bhatia (Sapience Analytics), Saurabh Lahoti, Hemant Joshi (Sapience Analytics), and Shashank Deshpande (Clarice Technologies) are partners in Pentathlon Ventures.

Supporting the partners in this regard is a stellar board of advisors, including industry stalwarts such as Shirish Deodhar (Serial entrepreneur), Martin Umaran (Globant), Mohan Kumar (Avataar Ventures), Pravin Bhalerao (Pranitya Wealth), and Abhishant Pant (The Fintech meetup).

Prabhjeet Bhatla

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