Pentathlon Ventures closes Fund II at Rs 255 crore to back B2B tech startups building for global markets

Early-stage venture capital firm Pentathlon Ventures has announced the final close of its second fund at Rs 255 crore, as it looks to deepen its investments in India-based startups building for global markets.

The fund will be deployed across 16 to 20 seed-stage startups, with a continued focus on business-to-business (B2B) technology. It is backed by family offices, high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs from India, the United States and the Middle East.

Pentathlon said Fund II would retain its “use-case-first” investment approach while expanding into areas such as enterprise artificial intelligence, financial technology, healthcare technology, cybersecurity, logistics and manufacturing.

Ashok Mayya, managing partner at Pentathlon Ventures, said the firm was seeing “strong founders emerge across enterprise AI, fintech, healthtech, and industrial technology”.

“Many of these companies are inherently global in ambition, and our role is to support them beyond capital, particularly in refining enterprise go-to-market and scaling into markets like the US and the Middle East, with the help of our expanded investor base in these regions,” he said.

The firm has already invested in eight companies through Fund II, representing roughly half of its target portfolio. Several of these investments have shown early traction, with some achieving more than threefold growth since funding, according to the company.

A notable shift in the new fund is Pentathlon’s intention to lead or co-lead seed rounds, allowing earlier and deeper engagement with founders. The firm is also strengthening its international presence through a US feeder fund and a US-based partner, aimed at improving access to overseas markets.

Gireendra Kasmalkar, managing partner at Pentathlon Ventures, said the early performance of the portfolio reinforced the firm’s strategy.

“The early progress across the portfolio, including multiple companies achieving 3x+ growth since investment, reinforces our belief in our investment approach. We remain focused on disciplined use-case first investing and backing exceptional founders in their niches to deliver strong, long-term returns for our LPs in this fast-changing world of AI,” he said.

Pentathlon Ventures said it would focus over the next two years on building a concentrated portfolio of high-quality B2B technology companies, while working closely with founders on preparing for later funding rounds, refining enterprise go-to-market strategies and expanding internationally, particularly into the US and Gulf markets.