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Piyush Gupta, one of the operating leaders at Peak XV Partners, is leaving the firm at the end of this month to start his own fund, four people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n
Gupta joined Peak XV (called Sequoia India and SEA then) in 2017, leading the influential venture firm\u2019s strategic development team. Before joining Peak XV, he focused on similar things \u2013 mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs \u2013 at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
Though Gupta didn\u2019t serve as an investing partner at Peak XV, he played an important role at some of its programs including Pitstop, where investors from across the globe liaison with Peak XV\u2019s portfolio startups each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor early-stage companies, we take a more programmatic approach, such as UpSurge, where we provide a platform for multiple companies to meet with multiple investors over a few days. At later stages, M&A can be a crucible moment in the journey to becoming a large, enduring company,\u201d his bio on Peak XV reads<\/a>. \u201cWhere our job gets incredibly interesting is when we help companies through the journey from pre to post IPO. Going public is an event and a milestone, but the work continues long after that and preparation is key.\u201d<\/p>\n News of Gupta\u2019s departure was relayed by Peak XV Partners to its limited partners at its annual gathering last month, one person familiar with the matter said, where the fund also unveiled plans to launch a perpetual fund<\/a> that will be bankrolled by its investment partners and extended team.<\/p>\n The two are parting ways on cordial terms, two people familiar with the matter said. Gupta plans to launch a secondary-focused fund and Peak XV intends to work closely with him to facilitate transactions at its portfolio firms.<\/p>\n Peak XV declined to comment and Gupta didn\u2019t respond to a text.<\/p>\n Secondary transactions are on the rise in India. Peak XV itself has seen some exits \u2014 Pine Labs, K12 \u2014 through secondary transactions in the past two years. The firm\u2019s holding in Mamaearth, Zomato, K12 Techno Services, Go Colors stood at a 10x-plus multiple<\/a> as of last November, TechCrunch reported at the time.<\/p>\n