For prospective backers, 3 reasons why you would find this syndicate attractive.
The First Principles group is led by Nitin Sharma, a seasoned venture investor for the past 12+ years, and supported by a team of young founders working on cutting-edge tech.
For more: First Principles Portfolio
1) Nitin's experience + track record
- Over the last 12 years, I am in my 4th innings as an early-stage investor. I was fortunate to start my investing career in the US, at NEA (largest VC in the world), learning from some of the best in the business. Worked on 6 deals that had IPOs or large M&A outcomes (Millennial Media, ChannelAdvisor, AddThis, OPOWER, Gilt, EverFi).
- Next, I was part of the founding team at Lightbox Ventures (now $400M AUM) in India
- For the last couple of years, I have been actively angel investing with my own capital and that of some family offices. FirstPrinciples.vc is a portfolio of ~40 startups going after very interesting problems, with solid validation / data so far.
- Note: I am currently building Antler India, and this syndicate is now focused on the existing portfolio (no connection to Antler)
These startups are backed by top tier global funds, strategics and family offices
- Sequoia, Tiger Global, DST, Y Combinator, Google, Jio, Info Edge, IndiaMart, TPG Rise, Elevar, Section 32, SVB, Polychain, Bloomberg Beta, First Round, Union Square, Anand Mahindra, Venture Highway, India Quotient, etc.
Good data on value creation:
- A very high ratio (80%+) have already seen 1 or more follow-on rounds (or liquidity)
- More than a third at 3x+ carrying value already (good for a young portfolio, median time from investment is 18 months)
- Fynd exited to Reliance Jio (at 5x), SharesPost (US based investment) exited to Forge (Peter Thiel backed)
- Though biased, we believe 9 or more have potential to be unicorns in the next 3-4 years
- Portfolio also includes some of the world's most disruptive blockchain startups
- 50% of these entrepreneurs are second-time founders, and/or have worked at very successful tech startups
On AngelList: Co-led one of the largest syndicates for an India-focused co, for KlubWorks (round led by Sequoia Surge) which included the founders of Cred, Fynd, EzCred, Blackbuck, YourStory etc.
2) Deal Flow (brand + network)
- 1500+ deals seen in the last 2 yrs.
- #1 reason for solid deal flow: We work very hard with founders in the trenches. For more: What Founders Say
- We get high-quality inbound from VCs and founders in India, and from our global network (regularly get deep tech deals from the US, UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Dubai, Korea)
- Also, active engagement in the ecosystem (advising govt entities on deep tech policy, speaking at 30+ conferences, 100+ press mentions in the last 2 years). For more: News & Press
3) "First Principles" approach (thesis-based | very selective | deep research)
- We will deliberately stick to low volume + high selectivity, and only bring the TOP 2-3% of deals to backers. Not more than 5-6 a year max.
- We don't believe alpha can come from just reacting to existing deal flow in the market. My team and I develop themes based on extensive research, sharp focus on fundamentals and underrated founders, and a global lens. For more: Themes
- We don’t mind being a bit "ahead of time”. Nitin jumped into US edtech in 2009, India startups in 2012, India D2C brands in 2014, and blockchain in 2017 - well before these themes were “hot”
Yes, as long as allocations are available, I will strive to bring all deals to all syndicate backers.
Backing this syndicate does NOT require you to invest in each deal.