Three former managing directors of Peak XV Partners—Shailendra Singh, Vaibhav Domkundwar, and V.T. Bharadwaj—have launched Mettle Capital, a new venture capital firm targeting a $350-400 million fund. The firm will focus on backing early to growth-stage startups in India, leveraging the founders' experience in scaling high-growth companies in the region 12.
Mettle Capital’s fund will primarily target early to growth-stage startups across sectors in India. The firm’s founding team brings decades of experience in venture capital, having previously worked at Peak XV Partners, one of India’s most prominent VC firms. Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia Capital India, has backed successful startups like Zomato, Ola, and Freshworks, and the new firm aims to replicate this success with its own investment thesis 12.
Shailendra Singh, Vaibhav Domkundwar, and V.T. Bharadwaj, the co-founders of Mettle Capital, have collectively invested in over 100 startups during their tenure at Peak XV. Singh, who served as the India head of Peak XV, is known for leading investments in companies like Pine Labs and Unacademy. Domkundwar and Bharadwaj have also played key roles in scaling startups across fintech, SaaS, and consumer tech sectors 12.
Mettle Capital is targeting a $350-400 million fund to back Indian startups. The firm’s launch comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing a resurgence in funding activity, with early-stage investments picking up after a slowdown in 2023. The firm’s focus on India aligns with the growing interest from global investors in the country’s startup landscape 12.
Peak XV Partners, from which the Mettle Capital founders hail, has been a cornerstone of the Indian VC ecosystem for over a decade. The firm rebranded from Sequoia Capital India in 2023 to operate independently, following a global restructuring. Peak XV’s portfolio includes some of India’s most valuable startups, and its alumni have gone on to launch their own funds, signaling a trend of experienced investors branching out 12.
Singh has spoken about the potential of India’s SaaS ecosystem, while Domkundwar has focused on fintech and Bharadwaj on consumer internet companies. The firm’s debut fund will compete with other prominent VC firms like Accel, Matrix Partners, and Lightspeed India 12.
The launch of Mettle Capital follows a pattern of senior partners from established VC firms starting their own funds. In recent years, several investors in India have left firms like Sequoia, Accel, and Nexus Venture Partners to start independent ventures 12.
India’s startup funding landscape has seen significant shifts in the past two years, with a slowdown in late-stage funding and a renewed focus on early-stage investments. In 2024, early-stage funding in India grew by 20% year-on-year, according to industry reports, while late-stage funding remained subdued 12.