Cap table, ESOP management startup Qapita raises $5 mn

Qapita, which provides software solutions for employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and capitalisation table (cap table) management, on Tuesday said it has raised $5 million in a funding round, dubbed pre-Series A.

Boston, Massachusetts based MassMutual Ventures led the round, as per a statement.

Other participants in the round included returning investors Endiya Partners, Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, East Ventures, and India-based angel investors, such as Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar.

Other returning investors included Koh Boon Hwee, Atin Kukreja, Alto Partners, Mission Holdings, Patrick Walujo’s Northstar Group Partners, and K3 Ventures.

The firm will use the fresh infusion to enhance its team, accelerate product development, and build clientele in India, Indonesia and Singapore, the statement said.

The Hyderabad and Singapore based startup last raised capital in a seed funding round in September.

Serving customers in India and Southeast Asia, Qapita helps private companies and startups record and manage cap tables ESOPs. It also aims to digitise issuance of equity awards and shares.

“Wealth creation happens substantially through equity in the startup ecosystem. Through our cap table, ESOP and liquidity solutions, we want to enable founders not only to offer equity to more stakeholders (including employees) but also provide faster liquidity. This will enable them to accelerate the flywheel of reinvestment into the rapidly growing startup ecosystem in India, and Southeast Asia,” co-founder and CEO Ravi Ravulaparthi said.

The company was founded in September 2019 by former investment banker Ravulaparthi, former corporate finance and venture capital investor Lakshman Gupta (COO), and techie Vamsee Mohan (CTO), a team with experience in areas of investment banking, corporate venture capital and technology. The startup has scaled to 30 from six employees, as of September 2020.

“Over the last six months, more than a hundred startups have agreed to onboard with Qapita and manage their equity ownership on our software platform. New features will help us address pain points of not only startups and investors but that of all stakeholders in the ecosystem. We are looking to partner with various service providers including law, accounting & company secretarial firms and we will grow together by collaborating,” Gupta said.

Other players solving equity investing in private companies through real-time management software include Mumbai based TOPPEQ, and LetsVenture’s MyStartupEquity, which reportedly has plans to expand to Singapore.