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Eternal Capital, which was founded and managed by former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, has launched its maiden venture capital (VC) fund with a target corpus of Rs 120 crore.
The new venture also includes a greenshoe option, potentially doubling the fund's size to Rs 240 crore.
Eternal Capital is poised to invest in 40 early-stage startups over the next three years, focusing on sectors where founders have a strong operational background and are beyond the product-market fit stage.
Strategic investment focus
The fund aims to concentrate on three mainstay sectors, as outlined by Bahl: financial services, consumer and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, and SaaS (software as a service) and platform-based businesses.
Bahl also noted, "Our mainstay sectors are financial services, within which we're going to look at MSME lending, loans against assets, among others. Then we will look at consumer and D2C, focusing on people who are going to be one of the early category creators in a space. The third is SaaS and platform-based.”
Additionally, emerging sectors such as sports and gaming, as well as clean and green energy, are also on the radar for potential investments.
Commitments from notable investors, entrepreneurs
Eternal Capital has already secured commitments from several notable investors and entrepreneurs. This group includes Nalin Negi, CEO of BharatPe; Suhail Sameer, former CEO of BharatPe; Deep Kalra, founder of MakeMyTrip; and Tarun Mathur of PolicyBazaar.
Unique investment model
Eternal Capital distinguishes itself by not adhering to the conventional 2/20 VC model, offering a 50% discount on these fees instead.
The innovative approach aims to attract more founders and co-investors by reducing the cost barrier to investment.
Bahl explained the philosophy behind this decision, stating, "Globally, operator-led funds have outperformed more traditional peers due to their ability to connect easily, engage deeply, and add incremental value to the founders and the ventures they back. Our approach to date has been no different making us not only a ‘partner of first choice’ for founders but also, the preferred co-investment partner for other funds."