TR Capital, a secondary private equity firm focused on Asia, has acquired stakes in MoEngage, Shadowfax and Whatfix from Eight Roads Ventures in a $50-million secondary transaction, the firm said on July 1.
The deal marks the fifth investment from TR Capital’s $500 million Fund V and comes amid rising activity in India’s maturing secondary market, which allows existing investors to exit startups ahead of public listings or strategic sales.
Frederic Azemard, managing partner at TR Capital, said the firm closed the multi-asset transaction in under 90 days. “Partnering with Eight Roads India showcased that capability…we translated a multi-asset opportunity into a win-win transaction for all parties involved,” he said.
Eight Roads Ventures is a Fidelity-backed global investor, which has invested in over 300 companies globally, including early bets in the three Indian startups.
MoEngage is a customer engagement platform used by enterprises like Citibank and 7-Eleven. Shadowfax is a last-mile logistics company delivering over two million shipments daily and Whatfix is a digital adoption platform used by Fortune 500 clients across 40 countries.
Shadowfax has filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) under the confidential route to raise Rs 2,000-2,500 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), as an increasing number of startups throng Dalal Street.
In the past two weeks, Pine Labs, Wakefit and Curefoods have all filed papers, as they look to tap public market and raise capital to fund their next phase of growth.
India has been a key market for TR Capital since 2008. The firm manages nearly $1.5 billion in commitments and has emerged as one of the most active secondary investors in the region, providing liquidity to early backers through structured single-asset and portfolio deals.
The move comes as large funding rounds, sized $100 million and above, make a comeback, with investorsing look to back profitable, disciplined businesses with strong fundamentals and IPO ambition via secondary transactions.
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