Piyush Gupta, MD of Peak XV, leaves to start his own fund

According to people with knowledge of the situation, Piyush Gupta, who held the position of Managing Director at Peak XV Partners, would leave the venture capital company at the end of this month. According to further sources, Peak XV expects to collaborate closely with Gupta to enable transactions at its portfolio businesses as he prepares to create his own secondary-focused fund.

Peak XV’s limited partners were informed of the departure, which the sources characterize as amicable, during the company’s annual meeting last month. At the same gathering, the well-known venture capital company also revealed intentions to open a permanent fund.

As the head of the strategic development team at Peak XV, Gupta joined the company in 2017 and, according to his LinkedIn profile, was instrumental in a number of significant transactions during his time there. These included PayPal’s investment in Pine Labs, the startup’s $200 million fundraising campaign, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)’s investment in the edtech behemoth Byju’s.

Despite not being an investment partner at Peak XV, Gupta left his mark on a number of projects, most notably Pitstop, the company’s flagship effort that yearly arranges investor encounters between worldwide investors and its portfolio businesses.

Gupta’s next project will concentrate on the rapidly expanding Indian secondary market, where Peak XV has helped a number of well-known companies leave via secondary deals in recent years, including Pine Labs, Zomato, GoColors, and K12 Techno Services.