AdvantEdge is an early-stage venture capital fund that was founded in 2015 by Kunal Khattar and Ridhish Talwar. With a portfolio that includes Rapido, Chalo, Zingbus, Sheru, Park+, Grip Invest, Nakad, Shuttl, among others, it is now doubling down on the e-mobility space with its new fund.
After investing nearly $50 million across 30 deals via its first and second fund, Rapido Bike Taxi-backer AdvantEdge is launching a third fund to invest $80 million to $100 million in mobility solutions companies, its founding partner, Kunal Khattar, told YourStory in an exclusive interview.
The investment company focused on early-stage ventures, said it will allocate capital from Fund III equally across three distinct types of deals:
- First cheques, where it plans to put in one-third of the $100 million in seed stage deals, with a cheque size of $0.5 million to $1.5 million
- Fund II winners that AdvantEdge thinks are good, long-term bets
- Early-stage deals in companies that performed better after the first cheque round
Khattar says that while it is finalising its third fund and holding discussions with various limited partners, including existing ones, it will continue to actively invest from its second fund.
With Fund III, the focus will be on the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, particularly companies with an infrastructure play that make EVs affordable, either via shared mobility, electrification of public transportation, or making ownership of private vehicles economical.
"The idea is to make the EV ecosystem affordable, even at scale. Via Fund III, we will invest in companies that will enhance the accessibility of EVs and promote greater stability in the overall supply chains of the ecosystem," Khattar says.
More specifically, Fund III will target companies that lease out EVs to other companies--like Zypp, which leases e-scooters to delivery companies such as Zomato, Swiggy—, battery recycling startups, and EV financing companies that offer bespoke loans, financing, and insurance products for the sector.
Continue reading at: https://yourstory.com/2023/05/rapido-backer-advantedge-unveils-100m-fund-iii-emobility
