Investopad founders turn VCs with Good Capital, launch $25 mn maiden fund

Investopad founders Rohan Malhotra and Arjun Malhotra have launched Good Capital, a seed-to-Series A stage focused venture capital firm that will back B2B and B2C startups in India and the US. The firm’s first fund, dubbed Good Capital Fund I (GCF I), is raising a $25 million fund and has achieved its first close with commitments worth $12 million.

Limited partners of investors in Mauritius-registered GCF I include London Stock Exchange listed investment firm Symphony International Holdings, European family offices and Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurs, the firm said in a statement. Symphony has committed to be the anchor investor in the fund, it said in a regulatory filing.

GCF I is managed by Good Capital Management. The fund has already made two investments -- Delhi-based video commerce platform SimSim, where it led a $1.25 million funding round, and US-based cross reality platform Spatial which provides solutions for distributed workplaces.

The fund has an open mandate to invest in Indian and US-based companies. Deal ticket sizes would typically range between $100,000 and $2 million, said Good Capital managing partner Rohan Malhotra. “We are patient capital for these startups with a horizon of 10 years,” he told TechCircle.

The firm’s investment committee includes former Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, managing partner at Trifecta Capital, and Kashyap Deorah, founder of HyperTrack. 

“The launch of Good Capital reflects the changing landscape of early-stage investors in India. They move fast, think big and leverage global relationships to put their investee companies on to the fast track for success,” Trifecta’s Khanna said in the statement.

As part of Investopad, brothers Rohan and Arjun Malhotra backed companies such as social commerce platform Meesho and Silicon Valley based transportation architecture and technology provider Autonomic.ai, which was acquired by auto major Ford Motor Company in 2018. Investopad, founded by the Malhotras in 2014, operates as an incubator and early stage investor and has operations across Delhi, Gurgaon and Bengaluru.

Good Capital joins a growing population of homegrown venture capital firms that have sprung up in India’s startup ecosystem over the last few years. Most of these firms typically invest at the seed and Series A stages, plugging a critical gap in the market for risk capital at the pre-revenue stage. 

In May this year, Hyderabad-based Endiya Partners, which focuses on seed stage deep technology startups, announced the first close of its second fund for which it is targeting $75 million. Last week, Bengaluru based Chiratae Ventures received a $20 million commitment from World Bank arm IFC for its fourth India fund.