OTP Ventures Closes Maiden Fund At ₹500 Cr

Two years after starting his early-stage venture capital fund, entrepreneur and former bharatpe CEO Suhail Sameer has announced that OTP Ventures has closed its first fund at ₹500 crore.

In a post on LinkedIn, Sameer said the fund had received commitments of over ₹750 crore by January 2026. However, it decided to limit the fund size to ₹500 crore to maintain discipline and focus on returns.

He also said that the first ₹180–200 crore was raised quickly from founders, former colleagues, friends, and other venture capital investors.

Read also- rapido unveils a new brand identity as platform expands beyond bike taxis

However, he said the next few quarters were challenging. The fund faced many rejections from institutional investors and family offices. Some investors who had first shown interest or signed non-binding commitments later decided not to invest.

According to him, things improved around August–September 2025, when the fund reached about ₹250 crore. By November 2025, it had crossed its original target of ₹400 crore.

He added that new commitments kept coming in until the end of the year, taking the total to over ₹750 crore before the firm decided to close the fund at ₹500 crore.

Advertisment

“We eventually chose to only take ₹500 Cr (has to do with our sense of sweet spot fund size to maximise returns to our investors), and ended up having to say no to a few institutions. We could have taken that money instead of letting existing investors increase commitment, but it felt a betrayal of the trust they had shown in us (when we had nothing but a license, and some hope),” his post read.

Sameer said the fund has a diverse group of about 55 limited partners (LPs). Founders make up around 10% of the total fund, with nearly 20 startup founders investing in it.

He also said that OTP Ventures’ general partners have invested about 10–15% of the fund themselves, making them some of the biggest contributors.

“Another set of nearly 20 professionals, including operators and CXOs from technology companies and consulting firms, contribute a slightly larger share. Family offices have about 10-12 investors in the segment, while three institutional LPs round out the base,” he noted. 

The fund had originally planned to raise ₹400 crore but went past this target after a 17-month fundraising process that started in August 2024.

Founded in 2023, OTP Ventures is an early-stage fund that aims to be the first institutional investor in startups at the Seed or Pre-Series A stage. The firm was co-founded by Suhail Sameer along with former Foodpanda India MD Kunal Suri and Saurabh Vashishtha.

Advertisment

The fund mainly invests in consumer, consumer tech, and fintech startups, where the partners have strong operating experience.

Since it started, OTP Ventures has invested in startups such as Rupeek, Traya, Fable Street, abcoffee, NatHabit, and Nester.

Want to go deeper into the world of startups and entrepreneurship? Check out these categories on VIESTORIES:

Latest Business and Startup News: Discover Funding Trends and Stories Shaping Indian Startups.

Startup Funding News: Your Gateway to Every Funding Update.

Latest Startup News: Stay updated with the latest startup news and trends. Your go-to source for startup ecosystem updates.

Startup Stories: Discover inspiring tales of startups overcoming challenges, and achieving succes.