Venture Capital firm Iron Pillar, known for investments like Uniphore, FreshToHome, Servify and Curefoods, on April 5 announced the close of its $129-million late stage fund for investing in cloud software companies, shedding light on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) segment seeing increased investor interest and activity amidst funding winter.
The fund will be used to invest in Series B and C stage global cloud companies from India, with a with a strong emphasis on SaaS and Cloud Infrastructure around themes such as cyber security and governance, DevOps tools, future of work and education and automation.
It’s a part of Iron Pillar Fund II series of Funds.
The fund saw participation from new investors including two Endowments and a Foundation, apart existing investors from across the US, Europe and the Middle East.
"Iron Pillar is built on a fundamental belief that Indian founders will build large technology companies, not only for India, but also for global markets. We are thrilled to have raised the first ever growth stage fund with a dedicated focus on investing in global cloud software companies from India,” Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner, Iron Pillar said.
Mohanjit Jolly, Partner, Iron Pillar added, “The cloud ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and we are confident in our ability to help entrepreneurs create market-leading companies in India and around the world.”
Iron Pillar's global cloud fund’s deployment is led by Prasanna and Jolly.
According to data Bain & Company, SaaS companies built from India have generated $12 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in 2022, up 4X over the past 5 years. They expect that over the next 5 years, Indian SaaS companies will collectively reach approximately $35 billion in ARR and capture about 8 percent of the global SaaS market.
Founded in 2016, Iron Pillar has invested in several break-out companies in cloud software and consumer tech space. The firm’s investment strategy involves leading Series B / C rounds in its portfolio companies and later double down on the breakout businesses with 5x to 10x of its initial investment. Iron Pillar currently has about $500 million in Assets Under Management (AUM).
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