Deal Talk: Former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel to start own fund; Kae Capital to raise third fund

TechCircle brings you a round-up of technology investment and M&A deals reported from across newsrooms.

Lee Fixel

Former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel, who helped the hedge fund with several India investments, is set to shift his focus back to India. This time, Fixel is planning to invest his own money, Mint reported, citing sources.

Fixel is waiting for his non-compete agreement with his former employer to expire. He is expected to invest around $1 billion through his new fund. Apart from India, he might also look for startups in South-East Asia, the report said. 

Fixel, while heading Tiger Global’s private equity business, led the firm’s early investments in ecommerce giant Flipkart and unicorns such as Ola, Delhivery and Quikr. 

He has also led investments in tech giants Facebook, LinkedIn and music streaming platform Spotify.

Fixel is already in talks with a few Indian startups to sign cheques. He reportedly plans to invest in a $24 million seed round in fintech startup Amica Technologies, the report said.

Amica is founded by Jitendra Gupta, the former managing director of PayU India.

Kae Capital 

Early-stage investor Kae Capital is in talks to raise its third venture capital fund of up to $60 million, a report published by Mint said, citing sources.

The new fund will be slightly bigger than the previous fund of $53 million, which was raised in 2017. From the second fund, Kae has invested in logistics startup Freightwalla and custom manufacturing platform Zetwerk. 

Kae Capital is working with a Mumbai-based wealth management firm to attract limited partners (LPs), investors in a venture capital fund, the report added.

Its current LPs include Small Industries Development Bank of India, MakeMyTrip founder Deep Kalra and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Kae Capital was founded by Sasha Mirchandani, who was also the founder of the Mumbai Angels Network. Its first fund was of $25 million and it has invested in firms such as online pharmacy 1mg and fashion portal Fynd. 

DotPe

Naspers-owned payment solutions provider PayU and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International are investing $10 million in an equity financing round in fintech startup DotPe, multiple media reports said.

The funding round will also see participation from several angel investors and the BSE-listed Info Edge, which owns jobs portal Naukri, The Economic Times reported. 

DotPe was founded by Shailaz Nag, former managing director and co-founder of PayU India. Nag was also a founding member of travel and hospitality Ibibo Group, which was later acquired by travel operator MakeMyTrip.

Nag quit PayU India in July 2019 and was part of major top-level exit this year; the other being PayU India managing director Jitendra Gupta.

Gupta has set up his own fintech venture Amica.