Former Jio CEO Launches VC Firm Playbook, Marks Maiden Fund’s First Close at $130 Mn

Playbook Partners Expects Final Close of Its SEBI Approved Category II Alternative Investment Fund in Near Future at USD 250 Million

Playbook plans to support tech companies in “large addressable markets” in “healthcare, climate change, SaaS” sectors

In addition to Choudhary, Playbook’s leadership team also includes former McKinsey executive Dushyant Singh and Sistema Asia Capital senior partner Sumit Jain

Almost a year after leaving venture capital (VC) firm Pivot Ventures, Vikas Choudhary launched his new investment firm Playbook Partners. Coming out of stealth mode, Playbook Partners announced the first close of its maiden fund of USD 250 Mn (approximately INR 2,099 Cr) at USD 130 Mn (approximately INR 1,091 Cr).

In a statement, Playbook said the first close came within four months of launching due to strong interest from institutional investors from Europe, the US, the Middle East and India. It did not provide the names of the investors.

The VC firm expects to close its SEBI-approved Category II alternative investment fund in the near future. Playbook plans to back technology companies in “large addressable markets” that have “significant” scale, healthy operating margins, and high growth.

In an interview with Inc42, Choudhary said the sector-agnostic fund will look to back growth and late-stage startups in Series B, C and D rounds. However, he added that the firm will prefer to inject capital into startups operating in the healthcare, climate change and SaaS sectors with strong business fundamentals.

The VC firm did not provide details on how many startups it plans to back or the fund’s average median investment size. However, Choudhary said Playbook plans to make its first investment in the next few weeks and has more than 200 growth-stage startups in the pipeline for potential investments.

He argued that investor interest in the fund was due to the VC firm’s focus on growth-stage startups and his experience.

“There are over 1 lakh startups in India and less than 1,000 startups that have reached the growth stage. Hence, it is an underrepresented asset class in India. Also, to participate in growth capital, you need a certain kind of DNA. This is where we have an advantage as our leadership team has decades of hands-on experience in building growth-stage companies,” he said.

Before founding Playbook, Choudhary was a partner at Pivot Ventures for over a decade, from 2010 to 2023. Pivot Ventures is a multi-industry family office focused on alternative investments, with a portfolio of over 40 startups, including InMobi, Myntra, Fractal, Nazara, Policybazaar and Rapido.

Choudhary also served as the CEO of Reliance’s Jio for five years, from 2017 to 2022. During his stint at Jio, Choudhary says he led the company’s e-commerce, telecom, media and fintech verticals.

In addition to Choudhary, the Playbook Partners leadership team also includes former McKinsey executive Dushyant Singh and Sistema Asia Capital senior partner Sumit Jain.

Playbook also announced that its operating partners include Asian Paints vice president Manish Choksi, Aakash Education founder and CEO Aakash Chaudhry, and EY partner and chief operating officer Milan Sheth.

The company said the operating partners have come through their family offices or in a personal capacity. Additionally, its advisory board includes Nazar founder Nitish Mittersain, InMobi CEO Naveen Tewari and others.

The latest fund launch comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is emerging from the throes of a two-year funding winter, with India-focused VCs and PE investors sitting on dry powder from $5 billion raised over the past year.

Early last month, it was reported that early-stage venture capital firm Ankur Capital was planning to to raise authorized capital of INR 1200 Cr for its Fund III. In the same month, the VC firm Trifecta Capital has launched its fourth fund with a total corpus value of INR 2000 Cr.

Last month, the VC firm Sauce.vc also recorded the final close of its third fund for INR 365 Cr.