Braving a difficult fund-raising environment, Matrix Partners India announced today that it had closed a $300 million second fund. With the closing of this fund, the firm’s total assets under management will be $600 million across two funds.
The firm will continue to make early and growth-stage investments up to $30 million in companies focused on the Indian domestic market in the Internet/mobile, education, financial services, healthcare and infrastructure services sectors, the statement said.
The firm’s current portfolio includes 16 companies including Muthoot Finance, which recently closed its IPO offering, as well as TreeHouse Education, which has filed for an IPO. In both Muthoot Finance and TreeHouse Education, the firm is the first institutional investor and the largest institutional shareholder.
Matrix Partners India was founded by Avnish Bajaj and Rishi Navani in 2006 with their debut fund of $150 million. The fund was raised in partnership with Matrix Partners, a global network of funds investing in the USA, China and India with $3 billion under management. In 2007, it had raised an additional $150 million for growth capital investing as part of the first fund itself.
“We are excited about the continued support from our limited partners for our proven strategy of early-stage and growth-stage investing across our focus sectors. We intend to keep investing in outstanding entrepreneurs with the passion for building excellent businesses,” said Avnish Bajaj, managing director of Matrix India.
“The closing of our second fund is a significant milestone in our journey to build India’s pre-eminent investment firm. We appreciate the strong support of our marquee limited partner base and look forward to partnering with category-defining companies in the Indian market,” said Rishi Navani, managing director of Matrix India.
Matrix India’s portfolio companies include Muthoot Finance (gold loan NBFC), Tree House Education (preschools and K-12 school management), BSFL/BASIX (microfinance institution), Chetas Control Systems (water metering solutions), Center for Sight (eye care chain), FIITJEE (engineering test preparation company) and Ver se Innovation (mobile classifieds).
