TLDR:
- Cornerstone Venture Partners has made 21 investments in the last five years and recently announced a $200-million second fund.
- The focus is on B2B enterprise technology, with investments in new-age SaaS models, Web 3.0, quantum computing, and carbon neutrality.
Cornerstone Venture Partners, a fund house specializing in business-to-business enterprise technology, has recently announced its $200-million second fund with a 12-year lifecycle. The fund has made 21 investments in the last five years, focusing on new-age SaaS models, Web 3.0, quantum computing, and carbon neutrality. Managing Partner, Abhishek Prasad, discusses the trajectories of the two funds, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecosystem, generative AI, and plans for the upcoming fiscal.
One of the key areas of focus is the shift from horizontal to vertical SaaS models. The firm believes that vertical SaaS, focusing on specific industries and domains, can provide deeper value propositions compared to horizontal models. Seventy to eighty percent of investments from the second fund will be in new-age SaaS models, while the remaining 20-25 percent will explore Web 3.0, quantum computing, and carbon neutrality.
GenAI, or generative AI, is seen as a major inflection point in the SaaS enablement space. Companies leveraging GenAI can transform passive training solutions into ‘performance co-pilots,’ enabling faster time-to-market and real-time simulations for industries. The firm aims to invest in companies with commercial validation, revenue visibility, and cash-flow visibility, with cheque sizes ranging from $5-15 million deployed across multiple rounds.
