Qapita raises USD 1.8 million in seed round funding led by Vulcan Capital
Mumbai: Qapita, a Singapore-based fintech and legal-tech firm with an office in India (Hyderabad) on Monday said that it has raised a seed round totaling USD1.8 million.
This round is led by Vulcan Capital and several prominent early-stage investors including Alto Partners Multi-Family Office, Atin Kukreja (CEO of Rippledot Capital), Koh Boon Hwee, K3 Ventures, KDV Holdings, Mission Holdings, and several Northstar Group Partners including Patrick Walujo. In addition to managing capitalisation tables (cap tables) and employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), Qapita will also enable the digital issuance of ESOPs and shares.
Qapita was founded in 2019 by CEO Ravi Ravulaparthi, COO Lakshman Gupta, and CTO Vamsee Mohan, who recognised the inefficiencies in private market ownership and transactions, coupled with the need to digitally disrupt this sector. The founders hold decades of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, and software engineering respectively, working across markets like India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. The founders are alumni of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, Indian School of Business (ISB), and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Chennai.
Through the Qapita platform, fast-growth private companies and startups can record and manage equity ownership and ESOPs seamlessly and accurately, which can then be accessed by different stakeholders, from investors, to founders, and to employees, based on appropriate access levels. Companies will also be able to issue digital equity awards and grants on the platform.
Speaking on the successful fundraise, Ravi Ravulaparthi, CEO and Co-Founder of Qapita, said, ”We launched the company seeing the opportunity to tap into the rapid growth of startups, angel investments and employee ownership in Southeast Asia and India. Having worked alongside multiple founders and startups during their fundraising journeys, we recognised the huge gaps that exist in digitising ownership records. If records are systematically digitised today, then transactions can be digitised in the future. We also believe the platform will encourage more employee equity ownership in startups. The ESOP value proposition should be as simple as a payslip.”
Commenting on the investment, Tommy Teo of Vulcan Capital said, “Qapita is setting out to build a best-in-breed equity management platform for private companies and startups. The platform will empower all equity stakeholders to digitally manage their holdings in this region, where each country has its own unique regulatory landscape. We see the founding team’s commitment, network, deep understanding of these markets, and the potential of the software platform as a winning combination. With high growth companies remaining private for longer, we believe digital equity management and liquidity solutions to be a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and are excited to embark on this journey as a partner.”
The fresh funding will be used to strengthen and build the team, accelerate product development and build its client base. Qapita is also building digital share issuance capabilities on the platform, which will enable firms to issue shares digitally. Qapita has offices in India and Singapore, and will initially serve customers based in Singapore, India, and Indonesia before expanding into other markets.
