Avataar Venture Partners launches new fund and how circular economy works

Software as a service (SaaS) and B2B technology-focused growth-stage investor Avataar Venture partners has launched its latest fund with a target size of $350 million. The fund had its first close with marquee institutional investors from the US, Europe, and the Middle East. Founded in 2019, Avataar has raised two funds prior to the new launch. Startup Street spoke to Mohan Kumar, Managing Partner of Avataar Venture Partners; Sudheer Koneru, Founder and CEO of wellness and fitness SaaS unicorn Zenoti; and Baskar Subramanian, Founder and CEO of media software unicorn Amagi, to talk about Avataar's investment thesis and its newly launched fund.

India produces 65 million tonnes of waste per day, and this gets much worse around festivals. But with this increasing awareness about climate change, and a focus on sustainability, the circular economy of waste is gaining traction, with governments and companies trying to do better.

The circular economy seeks to mirror the cycles of the natural world. Reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, remake what cannot be repaired. This is profitable for companies too. As per Kalaari Capital, if the global circular economy touches $4.5 trillion by 2030, then we are looking at a $45 billion-plus opportunity for India provided the country captures just 1 percent of this market and this could go up to $380 billion if India's share of matches its contribution to global GDP. To take this theme forward, Ritu Singh spoke to Kiriti Poonia, the co-founder of Relove; Ankit Agarwal, the Co-founder of Phool; and Nitin Gupta, Co-founder of Attero.