White Whale Ventures has invested in Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters and consumer appliances firm Atomberg Technologies through its newly-launched secondaries fund, a top company executive said.
The Mumbai-based venture capital firm, which also backs startups such as M2P Fintech and iD Fresh, has completed the first close of the fund and expects to reach the final close within the next 12-18 months, co-founder Shapath Parikh told Mint.
“We did our first close a month or so ago, and have already made two investments since then,” Parikh said in an interview.
Parikh said the first close was backed by domestic family offices, entrepreneurs, senior professionals, investment bankers and promoters of listed companies, without sharing further details.
White Whale, which invests family offices and individual investors’ funds in mid-stage growth-led firms, is raising a ₹250 crore domestic secondaries fund following an approval from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in February last year. Unlike primary deals, where investors inject fresh capital into companies, secondary transactions involve buying stakes from existing investors.
The bets come at a time when India’s startup secondary market is gaining momentum, driven by maturing venture capital funds seeking exits, employees looking to monetise stock options, and a growing pipeline of late-stage startups preparing for public listings over the next few years.
Mint in July reported global secondaries specialists such as TR Capital, TPG NewQuest, Pantheon Ventures, Glendower (CVC), LGT Capital, and HarbourVest, are actively scouting such deals in India. Many other new domestic players like White Whale, Neo Asset Management, Kenro Capital, 360 ONE Asset Management, have also joined the race over the past year.
From its earlier fund, White Whale has backed startups such as clothing brand XYXX and SaaS firm StackBox in 2025; food brand iD Fresh in 2024; ice cream brand Noto and banking tech firm Mintoak in 2023; and fintech SaaS firm M2P Fintech and Dunzo in 2022. It exited Dunzo and Paytm in 2025 and 2021, respectively, the company’s website showed.
Investment lens
Both new investments, according to Parikh, fit the firm’s strategy of backing companies with strong management teams, credible existing investors and visibility on liquidity. He did not disclose the size of the two investments, but said the initial ones would be smaller than the fund’s eventual average ticket size, given the fund has only completed its first close.
Parikh said Atomberg, backed by Temasek Holdings, A91 Partners and Jungle Ventures, is a scaled-up category leader in the premium fan segment. “It could be an IPO candidate in the medium term.”
Bloomberg in December reported that the home appliances startup is preparing for a $200 million initial public offering (IPO). The startup has begun early talks with investment banks and is expected to appoint advisers soon, Bloomberg reported.
In August, Mint reported that early backers are planning to exit as the company gears up for a public listing this year.
Blue Tokai, an existing portfolio company, is seeing its third funding from White Whale, and the first from its new secondary vehicle. “We have been part of Blue Tokai’s journey since the time they were roughly a ₹50 crore turnover company. Now, that’s more like their monthly scale,” Parikh said. The company last raised a $25 million (around ₹220 crore) in a bridge funding round from existing investors A91 Partners, Anicut, Verlinvest, and 12 Flags.
Fundraising blocks
On fundraising, Parikh said the environment had slowed since February-March amid global uncertainty, but investor sentiment was improving. “With geopolitical risks seemingly easing and the markets resultantly recovering, we expect the fundraising environment to gradually improve from here on,” he said.
White Whale aims to complete the final close ahead of the two-year regulatory window allowed for the alternative investment fund. According to Sebi’s rules, general alternative investment fund (AIF) schemes must declare the first close within 12 months of the Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) being taken on record by Sebi and the final close must be declared as per the timeline specified in the PPM.
“We want to accelerate the final close because we are seeing great opportunities,” Parikh said. Secondary transactions in India are picking up on the back of delayed IPO timelines and the natural need for liquidity from maturing funds, according to Ketan Mukhija, partner and co-head, PE and VC, Kochhar & CO. “Demand for ESOP liquidity is also picking up, as founders and employees look for partial exits,” said Mukhija.
However, he added that this is a selective market, with capital chasing companies that have strong fundamentals and a credible path to profitability or listing. “Fundraising remains tight. Capital is available, but investors are more cautious and focused on track record and distributions, resulting in longer closing timelines, particularly for first-time managers,” Mukhija said.
Parikh added that the fund will remain sector-agnostic, though around half of deployments are likely to be in consumer and financial services. “Much of India’s private market activity is concentrated in the two sectors.”