Mastering the Fundraising Journey: Insights for First-Time Fund Managers in India

Do you know anyone in the private capital industry who’s in their first fund, or about to launch their own fund? Perhaps you have friends who are investment managers and are now seriously considering venturing out on their own. A well-defined fund backed by a notable group of Limited Partners (LPs) and a robust sourcing strategy, can bring stability to an investment business, facilitate the growth of assets under management, and serve as a valuable investment platform for the manager. While human aspirational stories sound wonderful, empirically, fundraising has been a daunting task, especially for a first-time fund manager (FTFM).

Before raising funds, there are some considerations to keep in mind for the FTFMs which range from how to gain trust of LPs to defining success metrics to covering the legal, accounting, staffing, and strategic roadblocks that will be encountered on the journey. Moreover, there always are some older and more established funds who command bigger cheques while the fund raising journey for many FTFMs can at times stretch anywhere between twelve to sixteen months.

Therefore, experts recommend FTFMs who are preparing to fundraise must get their base clear with a four-fold strategy which influences the entire fundraise process.

First, it is imperative to determine the vision of the fund which outlines the sector, stage, geography, cheque sizes the fund will be investing in companies and above all to ascertain the differentiating factor.
Second, is to have Partners with complementary skill sets.
Third, in order to build trust with LPs, it is important for any VC fund to create a source of companies with a high degree of growth potential.
Finally, it all ties back to having a track record which plays a major role in decision making for LPs. This is where previous experience as an investment manager or as an angel investor or being associated with start-ups as a consultant for sweat equity comes very useful.

If you happen to be a FTFM, or manager at a micro VC fund, CIO at an active Family Office or a CVC and want to level up your fund management experience, the Bengaluru edition has you covered for all things fundraise.

• Decode the Mechanics of a Fundraise

The Bengaluru session in particular has been tailor-made to understand the salient aspects of the fundraise process. Our knowledge partners – IC Universal Legal and Price Waterhouse & Co LLP will share various business and legal considerations to keep in mind when raising investments from family offices and other LPs in alternative structures.

• In-Depth Analysis with Case studies

If you are raising your first fund, and need nuggets of inspiration or tips of the trade, then do not miss your chance to learn from the case studies of India Quotient and Enzia Ventures which will be presented by their respective fund managers at #VC101 – Bengaluru.

• Driving a Successful LP-GP Relationship

In business, relationships are the most valuable currency. It holds true when it comes to the relationship with your LPs as they strategically influence business practices. If you are a FTFM and want to learn the trade secrets on how to secure LP capital or how to preserve the relationship for longer-term success or the negotiation tactics with an LP – then you should join the Bengaluru session of #VC101. To successfully navigate LP-GP relations, the session will have a two special panels with LPs (Pratithi Investments, Waterfield Advisors, Oister Global, IFC, BII and, NIIF) to discuss fundraise from domestic and foreign pools of capital.

Raising funds as a First-Time Fund Manager in India can be a challenging yet rewarding journey. We are ecstatic for the Bengaluru session and are sure it will be full of energy, candid Q/A sessions and 10X when it comes to networking and knowledge sharing. We just have 1 more day to go for the registration, click here to apply. We are happy to discuss, receive feedback and respond to queries related to the programme. Feel free to write to us at amit.pandey@ivca.in / sunitha@ivca.in .