Alternative asset management firm Rockstud Capital and micro VC fund Artha Venture Fund have announced a partial exit from Everest Fleet, a fleet management service provider for Uber India. Uber had invested $20 million in Everest Fleet earlier this year, marking its first inorganic investment in India.
Rockstud Capital originally invested in Everest Fleet in 2019 when the company had just 150 cars in Mumbai. Today, it boasts a fleet of over 13,000 cars across seven cities and has begun deploying electric vehicles (EVs). This strategic shift allows Rockstud Capital to return the entire capital to its limited partners (LPs), making it one of the few VC funds in India to achieve this within its fifth year of operations. The fund has generated an impressive 18.8X return on its investment through this partial exit.
Abhishek Agarwal, Founder and Managing Partner of Rockstud Capital, commented on this milestone: “This makes Rockstud Capital one of the very select few VC funds in the country to be able to return the entire capital back to its investors within the fifth year of operations.”
Artha Venture Fund’s partial exit from Everest Fleet has so far yielded an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 105%, resulting in a remarkable 19X return on investment. Additionally, several LPs that initially invested in Everest Fleet alongside Artha Venture Fund have also chosen to exit in this round. This exit marks the 31st successful exit for the Artha Group, which maintains a portfolio of over 100 startups. The Artha Group’s investments span India, the United States, Israel, Africa, and the United Kingdom, managing assets valued at over Rs 1,000 crore. The group’s current focus revolves around the launch of its next early-stage micro VC fund, Artha Venture Fund II.
“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.
