Artha Venture Fund I makes partial exit in Lemnisk at 17 times return
Artha Venture Fund I said it has made partial exit in Lemnisk a Bengaluru-based SaaS startup, at 17 times return of it’s first investment in the company.
According to filings with the Register of the Companies (ROC) Bajaj Financial Securities has acquired a stake in Lemnisk at a valuation of about ₹240 crore, The transaction involved secondary sales by Artha Venture Fund.
Founded in 2015, Lemnisk is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that enables enterprises to unify and activate customer data across channels, helping brands deliver hyper-personalised marketing at scale.
Its clients include financial services, telecom, and consumer internet companies across India, the GCC, and Southeast Asia.
AVFI which participated in the sale, said that the decision was less about fund pressures and more about bringing in a prestigious strategic player.
The fund first backed Lemnisk in FY21 with a ₹1.1 crore seed funding at a valuation of about ₹7 crore, later adding another ₹9 crore across multiple rounds and helping onboard other investors.
Since then, Lemnisk has scaled its annual recurring revenue from $500,000 to over $5 million, while maintaining a strong cash balance.
Anirudh A. Damani, managing partner, Artha Venture Fund said that when Artha backed the company, the CDP category in India was still nascent.
“Global validation came soon after, when Twilio acquired Segment for $2 billion in 2020,” he said.
Artha’s very first funding into Lemnisk has generated around 17 times returns, with the exit alone contributing over 10% DPI to AVF I, India’s first early stage microVC fund which closed at over ₹225 crore in 2021.
With the latest development, AVF I’s distribution-to-paid-in (DPI) capital now stands at 20%, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) has crossed 60%, and Multiple of Invested Capital (MOIC) is at 5 times with 2 partial and 2 full exits in its 32 company portfolio.
Across its portfolio, Artha India Ventures’, the sponsor and General Partner for AVF, cumulative exits have now exceeded ₹100 crore, spanning 34 transactions since 2016.
“We have been disciplined in creating liquidity events for our Limited Partners, even in private markets,” Mr Damani said.
“Our 2025 exits from Everest Fleet, Biryani By Kilo, Exotel, Instellar, and now Lemnisk show that there is a healthy secondary market for high-quality companies that operate like institutions, he said.
“Our exit muscle has also gotten us closer to the M&A community, secondaries funds and especially the strategy teams at conglomerates like Reliance, Bajaj, DSP, looking for strategically investing or acquiring innovative startups,” he added.
Artha India Ventures (AIV) recently also announced the final close of its “winners-only” follow-on vehicle, Artha Select Fund (ASF) at ₹432 crore.
ASF will write Series B and C cheques of around ₹20 crores each, for 12–14 winners over the next four years.
“Our biggest alpha comes from taking companies from zero to one in our venture fund, and one to ten through our winners fund,” Mr. Damani said.
“These exits give us the capital to reinvest where value creation potential is highest,” he further said.
With total Assets Under Management exceeding ₹1,200 crore, Artha India Ventures is India’s only alternative investment manager backed by a family office.
Published – November 07, 2025 12:03 pm IST
