Artha Venture Fund-I makes partial exit from Everest Fleet, clocks 19x return

Artha Venture Fund (AVF), a Mumbai-based early-stage microVC, has made a partial exit from fleet management company Everest Fleet, the company said in a press note. With this, the microVC fund has recorded a 19x return on its investment.

Other details about the remaining holdings remained undisclosed.

Artha Venture Fund is an early-stage microVC firm with a corpus of Rs 225 crore. Established in 2018, Artha Venture Fund's investment approach targets business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), direct-to-consumer (D2C), and D2C enablers, unlocking potential across these domains.

In Everest Fleet, Artha Venture Fund has invested a total of Rs 10 crore. The Mumbai-based fleet operator has recently closed a $20 million funding round led by ride-hailing platform Uber.

"The venture confronted seemingly insurmountable challenges during the pandemic, facing a substantial setback. Yet the resilience and innovative mindset of the founding team shone through. Their pivot to an asset-financing model unlocked considerable capital and enabled them to transition to an asset-light model in a traditionally capital-intensive sector," said Anirudh A Damani, managing partner at Artha Venture Fund. "Today, Everest Fleet isn't just a leader in its domain but has also maintained profitability for two consecutive years," he added.

The exit from Everest Fleet marks Artha's 31st exit from a diversified portfolio encompassing over 100 startups. Artha Group is planning to launch its next early-stage microVC, Artha Venture Fund II.

It has invested in startups like AgniKul, LenDenClub, Daalchini, Elev8 India Sportz, and many others.