One Planet Partners Ties Up With SMTB for Around ₹3,000 Cr Fund
India-focused private equity firm One Planet Partners has partnered with Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) to launch its maiden fund, which plans to deploy around ₹3,000 crore over the next few years. The firm announced the tie-up on Thursday.
SMTB has made a strategic equity investment in One Planet Partners and is anchoring a dedicated private equity fund managed by the firm.
The firm now plans to bring in more limited partners from Japan, other international markets and the development finance institution community. It will also approach domestic institutional investors such as insurers and large family offices. Founder and chairperson Mukund Rajan said the firm could deploy more than ₹3,000 crore with co-investments from its limited partners.
One Planet Partners was founded in 2024 by Rajan, Bobby Pauly, Mrinalini Mirchandani and Sheetal Thakkar. Rajan and Pauly held central roles in launching and leading the private equity business at Tata Capital. Mirchandani led private equity for McKinsey in India, and Thakkar has investment experience at firms including Blackstone and Tata Capital.
The firm backs mid-market businesses in energy transition, mobility and manufacturing that stand to gain from India's structural growth. It plans to invest ₹100-500 crore in companies with revenue of ₹200-2,000 crore and attractive unit economics, and its targeted deployment will allow investments of $25-75 million.
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Its energy focus covers renewable energy, grid infrastructure and equipment for energy-intensive uses such as data centres. It says it will back the equipment and technologies that enable infrastructure, rather than the infrastructure itself. Electric mobility is a second focus, alongside manufacturing segments such as auto components and medical devices.
The firm has already begun deploying capital, with its first investment in Bengaluru-based electric mobility company Yulu Bikes, as part of Yulu's recent $93 million funding round.
The fund is aimed at what Pauly describes as the gap between early-stage growth capital and large buyout funds. Mirchandani calls this the "missing middle" of private equity, and the firm says it creates multiple exit opportunities: IPOs, strategic sales and sponsor exits over a five- to seven-year horizon.
Pauly said 15-20% of the fund is allocated to "fast capital" investments that target exits within two to three years. That allows the firm to deploy capital quickly, generate DPI and establish an early track record to support raising a second fund.
"Their commitment is a powerful endorsement of the strengthening ties between India and Japan," said Rajan.
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