Early-stage venture capital firm z21 Ventures Thursday said it has raised $20 million (Rs 167 crore) for the first close of its $40-million target second vehicle, anchored by WestBridge Capital, an investment firm with over $7 billion in assets under management.
The second fund will raise part of its capital from experts who will also mentor and support founders. “Our limited partner community helps us with early access to incredible founders and provides founders with deep functional and strategic expertise, strong connections, and a supportive ecosystem in their initial journey,” said Jyotika Gupta, partner at z21 Ventures.
z21 Ventures’ second fund follows the full deployment of its first fund of $5 million in June 2024. The maiden fund invested in 26 startups.
The second fund will invest in technology companies across various sectors, including artificial intelligence, enterprise software, and healthcare. The fund’s primary focus will continue to be pre-seed and seed-stage investments in companies with strong teams, innovative technologies, and large market opportunities.
"This successful fundraise is a validation of our community-led model and our track record of identifying and supporting promising early-stage companies. We look forward to supporting entrepreneurs to build and scale purposeful companies by bringing the power of community and capital," said Raj Singh, co-founder and managing partner of z21 Ventures.
The firm was founded by Raj Singh, Abhinav Shashank, Jyotika Gupta, and Sudarshan Ravi Jha, all alumni of IIT, Kharagpur. Singh is the cofounder of the RTP Global-backed International Battery Company while Shashank is the cofounder and chief executive of Innovaccer. Gupta was last associated with Glassdoor while Jha is the co-founder of Bertelsmann India Investments (BII)-backed LetsTransport.
z21 Ventures’ portfolio companies include Truefoundry, inito, Explorex, Money Club, vHub, Zime, Gimbal, and Gaana AI, among others.
