Dayakar Puskoor Unveils Dallas Venture Partners With Focus on Emerging Tech, Growth Stage Companies

‘A majority of startups require a ‘second act’ during their growth stage,” says investor Dayakar Puskoor. That’s why, in part, Puskoor and the team behind North Texas-based VC fund Naya Ventures has announced a relaunch that includes a new name, a laser focus, and a major hire.

The new capital firm, Dallas Venture Partners, will invest in the range of $2-10 million in early and growth-stage companies behind emerging technologies such as cloud infrastructure, AI/ML, IoT, XR, and others.

Located in Irving and Hyderabad, India, the venture capital company will hone in on B2B software companies and ambitious entrepreneurs who are looking to partner with hands-on investors.

Industry veteran hire

The firm has brought on Abid Neemuchwala, the former CEO and managing director of India-headquartered IT company Wipro, as a venture partner. Neemuchwala‘s 28-year career, in which he has been overseeing $8 billion in revenue and more than 180,000 employees across six continents since 2016, will bring extensive insight and relationships to DVP.

“Abid has been a statesman of the IT services industry and a thought leader advising Global CXO’s on Digital Transformation,” Puskoor said in a statement. “His rich experience in business and technology, and extensive network, will benefit the startup ecosystem worldwide.”

Puskoor, a serial entrepreneur, is best known as the visionary who launched one of the first tech-focused venture funds. He has a track record of 21 successful investments and five exits through Naya Ventures, and will bring that experience to his role as the managing director of DVP.

Naya Ventures has a combined portfolio enterprise value of more than $1 billion. Past investments include Kore.ai, Altia Systems (acquired for $125M), Hyperverge, Felix Healthcare, CoreStack, Amplifai, Viviota, and more.

“With deep technology expertise, industry knowledge, and market understanding, DVP will provide this much-needed momentum to startups identified through targeted and insightful diligence efforts,” Puskoor said in a statement.

Those efforts will involve managing an evergreen fund that provides broad, continuous, and repeat investments. In addition, DVP plans to enable participation in incubator and accelerator programs, as well as speaking and networking opportunities at industry and business conferences.

According to the firm, its model is “poised to democratize the venture capital industry.”

The “Silicon Valley spirit” in Dallas

Puskoor has a vision to bring the “Silicon Valley spirit” to Dallas, and will even give support to DVP’s portfolio companies together with Silicon Valley investors. He calls Dallas an up and coming “centre of IT innovation and technology development”—attributing the city’s fast-growing VC-funded startups, high rate of job creation, and lower real estate costs.

“Dallas is fast becoming a hotbed for innovation and incubation but needs help with go-to-market acceleration,” he said in a statement. “DVP will utilize our time tested philosophy to ‘Invest, Engage, Collaborate, Grow and Exit’ to fund the market acceleration and increase the odds of success through its extensive network of advisors that offer unparalleled mentorship to startups.”

Quincy Preston contributed to this report. The story was updated on Sept. 14, 2020, 12:18 p.m. with information to reflect the relaunch of Naya Ventures.