Monika Pande

YourNest Venture Capital

YourNest Venture Capital is a sharply focused 'Pre-Series A' fund house that was established in 2011 to nurture global market leaders from India. It invests in technology-led, enterprise-driven (B2B) and DeepTech (IoT, SaaS) startups. We are seeing India swiftly shift from an IT service outsourcing-hub to an IP/Patent driven 'Product Nation' with compelling investment opportunities. Our first fund of US$ 14 mn, started in 2012, and invested in 16 companies. It helped YourNest to be ranked as the Youngest VC firm in Preqin's Top 10 Alternative Assets (2017). Having completely invested this first fund, YourNest launched its second fund of US$ 30 in 2017 mn and has invested in 19 Indian startups with a focus on DeepTech. As of March 2021, CRISIL ranked it 7th among 48 AIFs launched in FY17. While several exits have been taking place from both funds, some of the Fund II portfolio companies – including Miko, Dozee and Exponent Energy – have already shown early promise of being Dragons i.e. companies that can potentially return the entire fund corpus in a single exit. The current fund – YourNest Innovative Products VC Fund III – was launched in 2021 and is likely to close at US$ 100 mn, after exercising the greenshoe option. It has already invested in seven companies – including crossover investments in three existing portfolio companies. In a country where entrepreneurship is encouraged but comes with its own challenges, the Indian DeepTech eco-system is rapidly evolving. Adept at identifying daring founders who we call ‘Challengineers' and emerging ideas, the YourNest team of four general partners include a business builder, a leadership coach, a global technology leader, an analyst and a technologist. As local Fund Managers they operate as unified enablers to nurture and guide our portfolio companies to global success as they benefit from our experience, networks and resources worldwide to build enterprises that dominate markets. They are supported by another f