Bipin Shah, former partner at Titan Capital and one of India’s most prolific early-stage investors, has closed his maiden fund at Zeropearl VC with commitments of Rs 159 crore (around $18–19 million), lower than what was planned to raise earlier as the fund looks to have outsized returns.
In June, Moneycontrol exclusively reported that Shah was in advanced talks to raise around $30 million (Rs 250 crore) for Zeropearl, a new micro-VC he launched after exiting Titan Capital.
"I had commitments of around Rs 280-300 crore but chose to close the fund at Rs 160 crore because I intend to return at least Rs 1,600 crore, which is a 10X return multiple," Shah told Moneycontrol. "I have an internal rate of return (IRR) of over 50% and plan to maintain that. It is easily possible with a smaller corpus."
Founder-heavy LP base
Zeropearl is positioning itself as a large-scale solo general partner (GP) funds, with a pre-seed and seed focus. More than half of its capital — 52 percent — has come from 31 founder-LPs, including 19 unicorn leaders and 21 entrepreneurs from IPO-listed or IPO-bound firms.
The remainder came from global funds-of-funds and family offices.
Rapid deployment strategy
Shah, an IIT-Bombay alumnus, has backed more than 250 companies, including early bets on Mamaearth, Credgenics, Giva, InVideo and CityMall, in his investing career. At Zeropearl, he plans to cut quick, conviction-led cheques, with a commitment to deliver clarity to founders within seven days.
Fund I has backed 20 startups, of which seven, including sneaker brand Gully Labs, health-tech player Cura Care and AI-powered Catalogus, have been disclosed. The fund aims to invest in 45 companies across consumer internet, SaaS, generative AI, health and wellness, and frontier sectors such as climate tech.
A shifting landscape
“Starting over again wasn’t easy, but this fund is both a fresh beginning and a tribute to the founders who dared to take early risks on themselves,” Shah said.
Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt and one of the unicorn LPs, added, “At the pre-seed stage, when no one is picking up your call and it’s just you against the world, Bipin is that guy who shows up. Now, as he takes the solo GP plunge, I’m excited to back him and see him build a genuine pre-seed institution.”
The close comes amid a shifting early-stage funding landscape. Moneycontrol has reported that larger multi-stage funds have turned more selective, often prioritising repeat or elite founders. The resulting gap has paved the way for a surge in micro-VCs and solo GP vehicles, many launched by seasoned operators like Shah.
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