☕️ Mid-market private equity firm Affirma Capital signed off from a eight-year investment in travel-tech company TBO Tek last week with a 12x return. I spoke with founding partner Udai Dhawan on the journey to the exit. Welcome to Edition #52.
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In This Edition
→ Affirma Capital and TBO Tek: How the exit was constructed
→ $247M across 18 India deals including Tessolve, Boldfit and GreenCell Mobility
→ Coinswitch’s rebrand and RDIF’s first cohort of AIFs
→ OrbiMed’s latest Asia fund
The Week in Deals
Most people outside of the travel industry wouldn’t be familiar with TBO Tek, a company that connects travel agents with hotels, airlines and ancillary services suppliers. Last week, the Gurugram-based company delivered a 12x multiple and a 49% IRR (in USD terms) for Affirma Capital, the private equity (PE) firm that backed it eight years ago.
Affirma marked a complete exit from the NSE and BSE-listed company with $468 million in capital gains on an overall investment of $42 million. “This one is a home run,” Udai Dhawan, the firm’s founding partner and head of India told The Runway over a call.
The Singapore-based PE firm entered the company in 2018, when TBO Tek was primarily an India-facing ticketing platform for travel agents, acquiring a 49.9% stake through a secondary transaction.
The exit leading up to the 12x return (14.9x and 54% IRR in INR terms) was constructed over three tranches spread across three years.
In October 2023, about seven months before TBO Tek listed on the bourses, Affirma sold part of its stake in a secondary transaction to PE firm General Atlantic. “They came to us. They wanted to buy more. We thought let’s de-risk ourselves. So one-third (of the stake) was sold to them,” Dhawan said. The sale was concluded at over 9x USD MOIC.
When TBO Tek listed on the bourses in May 2024 at Rs 1,426 a share – a 55% premium to its offer price of Rs 920, the PE firm, through affiliates Augusta TBO and TBO Korea Holdings, sold 7,296,797 shares in the offer-for-sale at approximately 11x USD MOIC.
The post-listing sell-offs were executed over multiple tranches through block deals and open market trades. The stock itself has been volatile since its listing. It hit an all-time high of Rs 2,000 a share in September 2024 and then declined to Rs 985.70 in April 2025. The stock is currently trading in the Rs 1,600-Rs 1,700 range. The last tranche was exited between July and October at approximately 17x USD MOIC.
On timing the exit in a choppy market, Dhawan said, “It’s always tricky in this kind of market. In general, FIIs are pulling money out. There’s no visibility on the waning of the geopolitical crisis. Inflation is high. Oil prices are high. The rupee continues to depreciate. For a lot of mid-cap stocks, there is uncertainty. For a travel company, it’s a bit more heightened.” TBO Tek derives a significant portion of its revenues from West Asia, which has been a conflict-ridden zone for most of this year.
“The way we looked at it was, the company is performing, the earnings are good and we’re already in the money significantly. We felt we were getting a good price. The market had re-rated (the stock). So over the last couple of months we exited our entire position and sold at roughly Rs 1,700-plus a share. That’s what helped realise the 17x for the last tranche. Not the entire third tranche but a good part of it,” he added.
Affirma’s thesis when it backed TBO Tek was that the company would grow faster than the market on the strength of its technology platform and management execution. That has largely played out. It has grown its GTV (gross transaction value) from Rs 3,085.54 crore in FY2021 to Rs 36,809 crore in FY2026. At the close of FY2026, revenues stood at Rs 2,677 crore while net profits were at Rs 244 crore.
Acquisitions have been a significant contributor to its growth, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2025, the company pushed through five strategic acquisitions. Notable among those were Swiss accommodation wholesaler BookaBed in 2022, which gave it a presence in the UK and Ireland; Jumbonline in Spain in 2023, which brought an extensive network of contracted hotels across Europe, the Caribbean and North Africa; and Classic Vacations in the US last year in the luxury travel segment.
“The changing mix in terms of how much business comes from India and how much from outside was a key factor in the company’s growth. We saw the business model moving more towards hotels. Hotels are highly fragmented and that allows you to generate better margins in a tech business. Those were some of the factors that continued to give us confidence that whatever the team was doing, we were on the right track,” Dhawan said.
The TBO Tek exit follows a string of recent successful exits from Affirma’s India portfolio. “In our other companies, in Tirupati Medicare we did 3x; in Prodapt we sold at 3.5x in a partial exit; and Epack Durable was a partial exit at 2.5x,” he said. It also comes at a time when the firm is raising its maiden India-specific fund, the Agastya Capital India Growth Fund, which aims to back mid-market companies (enterprise value of between $75 million and $300 million) in consumer, healthcare, technology and financial services.
Moving on to PE-VC investments during the week, investors deployed just under $250 million across 18 deals in India. Five deals accounted for over 60% of the capital deployed across deep tech, consumer and electric mobility. Cross-border capital – India-based investors deploying capital in the US and other markets – went into agentic AI and enterprise software.
→ Consumer
Boldfit | $42 million
The Wealth Company Alternates’ Bharat Value Fund led a Rs 400 crore ($42 million) Series B in sports and fitness products maker Boldfit. Bessemer Venture Partners was a returning investor in the round. The Bangalore-based company will deploy part of the capital for selective acquisitions to strengthen its category presence and capabilities, said a statement. Bessemer led the company’s $13 million Series A round in 2024.
Nat Habit | $15 million
Trident Growth Partners led a Rs 142 crore ($15 million) Series C in Nat Habit. Hero Enterprise and Physis Capital joined the round as new investors. Bertelsmann India Investments, Mirabilis Investment Trust and Sharrp Ventures, Marico chair Harsh Mariwala’s family office, were returning investors. The Gurugram-based company uses ayurveda to make personal care products.
Sub-$5 million deals
Nexus Venture Partners led a $2.6 million seed round in Circle, a Bangalore-based startup that offers a platform for selling and buying pre-owned products. Sauce VC, OTP Ventures and Huddle Ventures led a $2.26 million seed round in The Stack, a Goa-based supplements brand for sleep, gut health and functional health. BEENEXT and Kettleborough VC led a $1.26 million pre-seed round in Foundry, a Gurugram-based home appliances startup. Ayra Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Shree Anandhaas, a Coimbatore-based sweets and snacks brand.
→ Education and Healthcare
Mesa School of Business | $11.5 million
Dharana Capital and returning investor Elevation Capital led a Rs 110 crore ($11.5 million) Series A in Mesa School of Business. The round included Rs 25 crore ($2.6 million) in venture debt from Innoven Capital and Alteria Capital. The Bangalore-based company operates on-campus post-graduate and undergraduate residential programmes focused on entrepreneurship and has enrolled over 550 students over a three-year period. A key focus going forward will be to build AI-led programme design and delivery capabilities, said a statement.
MakeO Healthcare | $9.4 million
Singularity AMC led a $9.4 million round in MakeO Healthcare Technologies, the Mumbai-based company behind dental care brand Toothsi, primarily known for teeth aligners, and skin treatment brand MakeO (earlier Skinnsi). DSP Group Family Office, Genesis and Unispace Ventures participated. In February this year, it acquired Singapore-based dental care brand Zenyum.
→ Gaming
Spill Games | $10.5 million
Elevation Capital led a $10.5 million Series A in gaming studio Spill Games. Centre Court Capital and PeerCapital were returning investors in the round. The Bangalore-based company is focused on puzzle-based games. The latest round comes within six months of a $3.1 million seed round.
→ Electric Mobility
GreenCell Mobility | $35 million
Impact Fund Denmark is putting $35 million into GreenCell Mobility, an Indian electric bus operator, through its SDG Investment Fund II. The fund pools capital from five Danish pension funds. Mumbai-based GreenCell Mobility currently runs 1,200 electric buses on intracity and intercity routes with a target to grow to 4,500 buses across more than 100 cities. This is Impact Fund Denmark’s third e-mobility investment.
→ Deep Tech and Space
Tessolve | $75 million
Tessolve, the semiconductor engineering services company owned by Hero Electronix, the Pawan Munjal-led Hero Group’s digital technology venture, raised $75 million from Vector Line Capital. The US-based firm invests exclusively in semiconductors and the deal marks its first in India.
Bangalore-based Tessolve will use the capital to “pursue strategic acquisitions, expand service capabilities and scale global presence,” Tessolve CEO Srini Chinamilli said in a statement. About two years ago, it acquired German chip design company Dream Chip Technologies for approximately $46 million.
Tessolve itself was acquired by Hero Electronix in 2016 as part of the latter’s broader acquisitions-led strategy to transform itself into a billion dollar digital solutions enterprise.
Since the acquisition, Tessolve has raised external capital over multiple rounds including $40 million from Singapore’s Novo Tellus Capital Partners in 2021 and $150 million from TPG Growth in September last year.
Scimplify | $25 million
Hitachi Ventures led a $25 million strategic round in Scimplify. Teknor, Apex, Henkel, Accel, Bertelsmann India Investments, Omnivore and 3one4 Capital participated. The Bangalore-based company harnesses its proprietary AI-enabled platform SciNode to make speciality chemicals and critical materials for batteries, semiconductors, AI infrastructure and crop sciences.
Sub-$5 million deals
IAN Alpha Fund led a $2.8 million round in ThinkMetal. 3i Partners joined the round. The Chennai-based company is developing proprietary technology for high-value precision manufacturing. Aum Ventures led a $1.8 million seed round in Bangalore-based spacetech startup OXG Space. The company is building an orbital network that combines satellite connectivity with in-orbit computing to process earth observation data in real time. Accel and Prosus Ventures led a $1.5 million round in Ahmedabad-based spacetech startup Cosmochute.
→ Enterprise Tech
Shamrock AI | $5 million
Endiya Partners led a $5 million seed round in Shamrock AI, with participation from Capria Ventures. The Shillong-based company, which has operations in San Francisco and Hyderabad, is building an agentic assurance platform for large enterprises deploying AI agents for critical business processes. Its core product uses a proprietary context engineering layer to capture an enterprise’s processes, ERP configurations, systems and data relationships, and generates end-to-end test scenarios to catch issues before they hit production.
Sub-$5 million deals
Accion Ventures led a $2.5 million seed round in RevRag AI, a Bangalore-based company building multi-lingual AI agents for financial institutions.
→ Cross-Border Deals
From Peak XV Partners and Z47 to 3one4 Capital and Unilazer Ventures, India-based venture capital firms turned up on the cap tables of five enterprise technology companies headquartered in the US, though many of them have substantial operations in India.
Vertex Ventures SEA & India led a $29 million Series B in RapidCanvas, a managed AI execution company based in Austin, Texas. Peak XV Partners was a returning investor in the round. The company pairs an AI platform with field AI engineers to build and deploy custom AI applications for enterprises.
Z47 led a $12.5 million Series A extension in Confido Health, taking the total Series A round to $22.5 million. Existing investors Together Fund and Blume Ventures participated. The New York-based startup offers an AI platform that automates administrative workflows for healthcare providers in the US across dental, ophthalmology, nephrology and primary care.
Unilazer Ventures joined a $20 million round in San Francisco-based physical AI company Origin. The round was led by Accel and Zacua Ventures. The company’s flagship robot, OG-1, autonomously performs wall finishing, applying compound, sanding and priming, across heights up to 14 feet using force control and 360-degree sensing. Its robots have been deployed at commercial sites in New York, across data centres and multi-family apartments and hotels and the target is to have 150 robots deployed by the end of 2027.
Dharana Capital led a $10 million Series A in Clueso, an AI video creation platform for enterprises. Y Combinator and f7 Ventures, both returning investors, participated alongside new investors Founders Future and Neotribe Ventures. The San Francisco-based company builds AI agents that record on-screen product workflows and generate brand-consistent videos.
3one4 Capital led a $6.6 million seed round in Parallel Loop, an AI operating partner for mid-market and large enterprises. Picus Capital and Flourish Ventures participated, alongside Economic Development Innovations Singapore and a group of individual angel investors. The Singapore-based company offers a governed, modular AI stack that connects existing enterprise systems; leadership-level enablement programmes; and forward deployed engineers who modernise legacy systems and build new applications.
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Policy, Funds and Divestments
Fairfax wins bid for IDBI Bank
The Government of India has declared Fairfax Financial Holdings the strategic buyer in its auction to divest a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank. The transaction values the stake at approximately Rs 52,878 crore ($5.6 billion) at Rs 81 a share. Rather than paying the full consideration in cash, Fairfax plans to transfer its stakes in Go Digit Life Insurance and Go Digit General Insurance into IDBI Bank. Its listed vehicle, Fairfax India Holdings will do the same with its stake in IIFL Capital Services. Both transfers would be made at market price. Fairfax said it may complete the acquisition without one or both transfers.
Speciale Invest, Chiratae, Blume Among RDIF fund managers
The government’s Research, Development and Innovation Fund named the first set of institutions that will deploy its capital. The list includes 14 AIFs – Speciale Invest, YourNest, Sixth Sense Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Celesta India, Advantedge Investment, IvyCap Ventures, Ideaspring Capital, Blume Ventures, TVS Capital, AMA Capital, Translation Endeavours and Campus. The total RDIF commitment to this first cohort is Rs 7,131 crore and each fund manager is expected to raise private capital matching the government’s contribution. The announcement came after months of criticism from multiple industry quarters that the programme had stalled.
CoinSwitch’s venture arm rebrands, looks beyond crypto
CoinSwitch Ventures, the investment arm of crypto trading platform CoinSwitch, rebranded to BlackLane Capital and widened its mandate beyond Web3. After backing more than 26 startups, the firm is shifting focus to fintech, enterprise technology and consumer applications, and will invest up to $5 million per company.
Global Beat
Orbimed closes Asia healthcare fund at $1 billion-plus
New York-headquartered healthcare investment firm OrbiMed closed its latest Asia-specific healthcare fund, Asia Partners VI, with commitments at over $1 billion, its largest so far for this market. Alongside, the firm raised $1.9 billion for Private Investments X for life sciences investments in the US and Europe. Asia Partners VI will invest across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics and technology-enabled healthcare services, said a statement. The Asia franchise has been active across India, China and Southeast Asia over multiple market cycles.
Have a good week ahead.
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Good edition. I have been reading The Runway for a while, and the TBO Tek exit is a clear example of how a PE exit gets built. About 9x before listing, 11x in the offer for sale and 17x on the last block shows the return came from patience and staging the sale, not from one day on the bourses.