Nagraj Kashyap, Priya Saiprasad, and Samir Kumar recently announced the launch of Touring Capital – a venture capital firm focused on investing in the next generation of early-growth stage AI-powered SaaS startups worldwide. And Touring Capital’s founding partners previously led M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund) and Qualcomm Ventures, along with leadership roles at SoftBank Vision Fund II.
Touring Capital is also partnering with Oakley Capital, a leading investment firm with $10 billion under management, to build a new venture capital platform. This platform will offer decades of experience spanning market cycles, the power of a tried-and-tested network across the global technology ecosystem, and a deliberate hands-on approach to value creation for portfolio companies. The team made its first investment by leading the latest financing round in Pixis, a cutting-edge AI-powered software for digital marketers. Touring Capital is backed by institutional firms, family offices, and more than 20 former founders who previously worked with Touring Capital’s leadership, highlighting the team’s commitment to solid and long-lasting relationships with entrepreneurs.
Touring Capital’s founding team has worked together across three platforms since 2012, successfully building cultures that drive platform longevity and market-leading returns. Kashyap, Kumar, and Saiprasad collectively invested in 16 unicorns and led 26 successfully exited investments – which underscores their deep connectivity and proven track record of venture capital investing across the global technology startup ecosystem.
Touring Capital is aiming to source deals in and outside of Silicon Valley and will be searching from coast to coast to identify exceptional founders. Along with sourcing deals from across North America, the firm will focus heavily on emerging software ecosystems including India, Australia, Israel and Europe. And the firm’s debut fund will predominantly focus on investing in Series B and Series C rounds of category-defining SaaS companies powered by AI.
KEY QUOTES:
“While we’re a first-time fund, we’re not a first-time team. Our partners bring more than sixty years of experience investing in best-in-class software unicorns including Zoom, Kahoot, Livongo, Outreach, Applied Intuition, Innovaccer, and Go1. Our deep, cross-generational industry expertise uniquely positions us to support entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds and equip them with a network of global relationships that extend beyond Silicon Valley and the U.S. We are committed to partnering with exceptional founders that are reshaping the software landscape through AI and supercharging their growth for long-term success.”
– Nagraj Kashyap, founding partner at Touring Capital
“The Touring Capital team’s history of choosing emerging category winners is a testament to the impact they will have on every portfolio company they engage with. I am confident Touring Capital’s deep industry expertise and network will equip founders with the support they need to sustain rapid growth, and I am honored to be part of their journey as they build upon a global network of entrepreneurs who are transforming AI-fueled software to improve human productivity at-large.”
– Peter Dubens, founding partner at Oakley Capital
