India based growth capital firm Playbook Partners announced first close having raised over $130 million through established global investors from Middle East, Europe, US, and India. In response to strong institutional investor interest, the fund is using the green shoe option and can grow to $250 million. Playbook will partner with growth-stage, tech-enabled businesses in large addressable markets that have meaningful scale, healthy operating margins and high growth.
Playbook’s Middle East focus comes in the context of the surge in institutions and family offices in the region, particularly with key countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar attracting global ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families. According to Knight Frank’s 2024 Wealth Report, there were around 18,800 UHNW investors in this region in 2023, an increase of 6.2% from the previous year. Special economic zones like the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have been increasingly attracting UHNWIs to the Middle East market.
Playbook is founded and led by senior professional, entrepreneur and investor Vikas Choudhury, who has held leadership roles at multinational public companies including Reliance Jio and Aimia Inc, bringing vast experience in scaling large global and Indian businesses profitably in the digital economy. His long-standing investment portfolio includes 10 unicorns, IPOs and exits such as inMobi, Myntra, Fractal, Nazara, PolicyBazaar, Rapido, amongst other marquee companies.
Vikas Choudhury, Founder & Managing Partner, Playbook, said,“Powered by a 5x growth in the digital economy to over $1 Trillion, India will account for over 15% of the entire global economic growth over the next decade. Our purpose is to fuel India’s aspirational growth and transformation at scale. Our playbook isn’t just to fund, but to forge – capital, relationships, and strategic insight – necessary for visionary companies to master the art of scale, and institutionalize their leadership position. Our global investors’ trust and momentum is an endorsement of our differentiated strategy and its alignment with the market opportunity.”
Playbook is an operator-driven GC firm with leadership comprising seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals who have built, scaled, listed and exited multi-billion-dollar companies. The fund’s intrinsically embedded industry representation includes operating partners Manish Choksi (Asian Paints), Aakash Chaudhry (Aakash Education) and Milan Sheth (Ex Automation Anywhere), who have come in through their family offices or in their personal capacity. The firm’s deep, localized understanding across markets, sectors and life cycles – as operators, advisors and investors – brings a compelling edge to growth investing and value creation for digital India.
