Pentathlon Ventures – an early-stage B2B SaaS-focused venture capital firm – recently announced it launched a second fund with a target of $55 million. This fund aims to invest in 25 B2B SaaS start-ups, supporting breakthrough solutions across enterprise digital transformation, e-commerce enablement, fintech, vertical SaaS, applied AI, sustainable tech, and health.
This VC firm was founded in 2020 by a team of marquee entrepreneurs with more than 150 years of experience: Gireendra Kasmalkar (Ideas to Impacts, Verisoft); Sandeep Chawda (Globant, Clarice, Veritas); Saurabh Lahoti (Grassroots Business Fund, Ennovent); Madhukar Bhatia (Sapience, Symphony, Veritas); Ashok Mayya (Rising Pharma, Citron Pharma); Hemant Joshi (Sapience, Symphony, Veritas), and Shashank Deshpande (Globant, Clarice, Veritas).
For Fund II, Pentathlon Ventures is raising capital from a mix of Indian and global limited partners encompassing successful business leaders, corporations, and institutions. And through its first fund, the VC firm has invested in 23 start-ups, with a remarkable track record which includes successful exits and follow-on investments.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our core expertise is in early-stage B2B SaaS companies built from India. SaaS is a global play with innovative ideas coming from all corners. India’s software talent, with its experience and scale is well positioned to emerge as a dominant player in the worldwide SaaS market.”
— US-based Managing Partner Ashok Mayya
“The revenues coming from India-based B2B start-ups are expected to grow 25X in the next 8 years. With an impressive 50% faster time to revenue, better revenue predictability and solid gross margins ranging between 70-80%, it presents extraordinary prospects of building sustainable businesses. Indian B2B seed stage companies are going to be global leaders in the coming decade. The successes of our investments from Fund I further strengthens our commitment to this strategy.”
— India-based Managing Partner Gireendra Kasmalkar
