Mumbai-based Cornerstone Ventures plans to launch a $250 million third fund by 2027, with a specific focus on artificial intelligence and deeptech. Simultaneously, the firm is expanding its existing second fund to up to $200 million. Investors are observing this move as the firm prepares portfolio companies, such as OfBusiness, for potential public listings following strong returns from its maiden fund.
Cornerstone Ventures is preparing for a strategic shift. The venture capital firm plans to raise a $250 million third fund by 2027, specifically targeting deeptech, advanced manufacturing, and AI-driven business solutions. This represents a significant scaling effort, aiming to provide larger capital injections for companies in these specialized sectors.
Before launching the new fund, the firm is expanding its second fund. By using a greenshoe option, which allows the firm to raise more capital than initially planned, it expects to increase the size of its second fund from $150 million to a range between $170 million and $200 million. This additional capital is designed to support existing high-performing companies within the portfolio.
The firm is entering this phase following successful results from its initial $50 million fund. It has completed several exits, including the sale of CreditNirvana to Perfios, the sale of Wigzo to Shiprocket, and the acquisition of Intelligence Node by the Interpublic Group. The firm reported realized return multiples between 2.7x and 3.3x on these exits. Such returns are a key metric for investors, as they demonstrate the firm's track record in identifying and scaling B2B businesses before they are ready for the public market.
Cornerstone’s portfolio includes notable names such as Yotta, the data center firm backed by the Hiranandani Group, and the B2B e-commerce platform OfBusiness. Both are reportedly being evaluated for potential initial public offerings (IPOs). The success of these future public market debuts will be a critical test for the firm, as it will determine whether the valuations achieved in earlier funding rounds can be sustained in the open market.
There are inherent risks in the firm's pivot to deeptech and AI. These sectors are typically more capital-intensive and often have longer development cycles compared to earlier digital services. While the firm has proven its ability to exit successfully in its maiden fund, the future performance will depend on whether these new, more complex technologies can achieve commercial scale in a competitive global environment. Investors tracking this space will monitor how the firm handles the transition toward hardware-intensive sectors, the timeline for IPOs of its key portfolio companies, and whether these businesses can navigate the volatility of the public markets.