Kenro Capital I: A $37.5 Million India and Southeast Asia Secondaries Fund From a Former Peak XV Investor

Kenro Capital I, LP filed a Form D on October 30, 2026 reporting $37.5 million sold, with Piyush Gupta named as promoter. Gupta is a former managing director at Peak XV Partners who launched Kenro Capital in late 2024 to buy minority stakes in growth-stage companies in India and Southeast Asia, many of them from existing shareholders. This profile covers what the filing shows, what public coverage says about the firm and how Indian founders can use a secondaries investor. Where facts rest on one source, we say so.

What the Filing Shows

• Vehicle: Kenro Capital I, LP, tagged as a venture capital fund with a generalist or unspecified sector in our data
• Amount: $37.5 million reported sold, filed October 30, 2026
• Named person: Piyush Gupta, listed as promoter

A Form D shows that a vehicle exists and what it reports as sold. It is not a final close, and it does not say whether the fund is the firm's only vehicle. Press reports from 2024 said the firm had not disclosed its fund size, so this filing is a useful first public number, but we could not confirm what it represents.

Who Is Behind Kenro

Piyush Gupta spent years at Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia India, before leaving to start his own firm. Kenro launched in November 2024 with Norbert Fernandes, a former director at TR Capital, as partner. Gupta is based in Singapore and Fernandes leads operations from Mumbai, according to Indian Startup News.

What a Secondaries Fund Does

A primary investment puts new money into a company. A secondary investment buys shares from existing holders, such as early investors, founders or employees, so money goes to the sellers and not to the company. Kenro describes itself as a growth-stage secondary venture capital firm, and its first deal combined both types.

For founders, a secondaries buyer can solve a different problem from a normal round:

• Early investors who want to exit can be bought out without a sale of the company
• Employees can sell vested shares, which helps retention
• The cap table gets a long-term holder ahead of a listing or a strategic sale
• The company can raise a small amount of primary money in the same transaction

The First Deal: K12 Techno Services

Kenro's debut investment was $40 million in K12 Techno Services, the Bengaluru company behind Orchids The International School, according to Entrepreneur India in December 2024. The deal gave Kenro a minority stake through a mix of three steps: buying part of a large existing shareholder's stake, purchasing employee share options and putting in a modest amount of new capital.

The company's reported figures for FY24 were:

• Revenue from operations of ₹429.2 crore, up from ₹358.3 crore a year earlier
• A loss of ₹9.5 crore, down 75 percent year on year
• Positive EBITDA of ₹80.4 crore
• More than 90 Orchids school branches, plus services to over 900 institutions and 350,000 students

Existing investors in K12 at the time included Peak XV Partners, Kedaara Capital, Sofina Ventures and Venturi Partners, according to the same article. Gupta said the deal fit Kenro's strategy of backing growth-stage companies with significant revenue scale and profitability.

Other Reported Investments and Deal Size

Press coverage in 2024 said Kenro plans to write $20 million to $30 million per transaction and may go larger through co-investors. One profile on DealStreetAsia lists Pine Labs and GIVA as other investments and says Gupta did more than $120 million in direct secondary deals in the past year. We found no second source for those claims, so treat them as unconfirmed.

Our arithmetic: at $20 million to $30 million per deal, $37.5 million would fund one or two deals before any additional commitments, so the fund likely relies on co-investors or further closes.

Why Secondaries Matter in India Now

Indian growth-stage companies often hold large early-investor stakes that are years old. Funds from the 2015 to 2021 period are reaching the end of their terms, which gives their investors reasons to sell. A buyer with fresh capital and growth-stage experience can take that stake, and the company gains a stable shareholder. Gupta's move from a large venture firm to a secondaries-focused firm reflects that market. This is our reading of the trend, not a statement from the firm.

Who Kenro Is a Fit For

• Indian and Southeast Asian companies with significant revenue and a clear path to profit, which Gupta has described as the target
• Founders with early investors or employees who want liquidity
• Companies preparing for a listing or acquisition that want a patient minority holder

It is less obviously a fit for early-stage startups, since the reported deals are large and revenue-based.

How to Approach Kenro

• Get a warm introduction from an existing investor, a banker or a founder in the portfolio
• Send a short note with revenue, profit or EBITDA, growth rate and what you want, such as liquidity for an early investor or employee share buyback
• Prepare your data room, check your cap table and model your dilution
• Ask whether Kenro would act as lead investor in a mixed primary and secondary round and what its term sheetusually includes
• Check Indian foreign exchange and tax rules with an adviser before a share sale, since cross-border secondaries can be complex

Questions to Ask Before You Pitch

• What share of a typical deal is primary capital and what share is secondary?
• Does the firm take a board seat or only information rights?
• What is the expected holding period, and does it expect a listing?
• Which fund would make the investment, Kenro Capital I or another vehicle?

What We Could Not Confirm

We could not confirm Kenro Capital I's target size, whether the filing is a final close, the fund's investor base or the Pine Labs and GIVA investments. Check Kenro's own materials for the latest details.

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