Vikas Choudhury, a former top executive at Reliance Jio, has launched a new venture capital fund, Playbook Partners, with an initial close of $130 million. The fund aims to support mid-market growth-stage startups that have established business models but need capital to scale into multimillion-dollar revenue companies. Choudhury is targeting to expand the fund size to $250 million.
Playbook Partners has attracted investments from large institutional backers across Europe, the US, West Asia, and India. The fund is specifically focused on tech-first businesses, setting it apart from other funds that may also invest in more traditional sectors.
“We are going to invest in tech-first growth-stage companies which have shown a strong business potential and are operating at a revenue base of between Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore… We will also look for a positive contribution margin in the businesses,” Choudhury said.
The fund will primarily focus on two themes for investment: companies that use digital innovation to augment distribution in sectors such as consumer, fintech, and supply chain, and companies that solve large-scale problems through digital innovation, including sectors like health, climate, and SaaS.
“We are looking at two themes of growth-stage opportunities – one that uses digital to augment distribution that would include sustainable business models in sectors like consumer, fintech, and supply chain; and a second one which solves large-scale problems with digital innovation and can also cater to the world, like health, climate and software as a service,” Choudhury added.
The average investment size from Playbook will range between $10 million and $20 million, and the fund is open to leading investment rounds or co-leading them. Playbook is already in discussions with several startups for potential investments, signaling a quick start to its investment activity.
Before founding Playbook Partners, Choudhury served as President at Reliance Jio from 2017 to 2022. He also led the India operations of Toronto-headquartered investment holding company Aimia and was a partner at Pivot Ventures, a multi-family office focused on alternative investments. However, Playbook Partners is a completely separate entity with its own professional management team.
The fund obtained a Sebi license earlier this year and is registered at Gift City in Gandhinagar as of four months ago. Choudhury believes that his experience in leading large businesses gives Playbook Partners an edge in helping startups scale from early-stage ventures into sustainable, profitable businesses.