RPS Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
RPS Ventures is a global late-stage technology venture capital fund headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2018 by Kabir Misra and Samantha Wang, the firm invests exclusively in late-stage technology companies — Series C, D, E, and growth equity rounds — where capital accelerates proven business models rather than funding early discovery.
The firm's core thesis centers on identifying exceptional founding teams with demonstrated market traction in large, transformable markets. The partners bring a complementary mix of global institutional experience: Kabir Misra spent over 13 years at SoftBank, most recently as Managing Partner at the Vision Fund, and served on the boards of Flipkart, PayTM, Tokopedia, Coupang, and Fanatics, while also serving as an independent director at Alibaba. Samantha Wang brings operator experience from LegalZoom (spearheading all global initiatives and running the UK office), VC experience from Crosslink Capital, and investment banking from Deutsche Bank across Hong Kong, San Francisco, and London. This blend of global institutional networks and operator insight enables RPS to offer more than capital at the late stage.
The firm operates with the philosophy: "We know this is ambitious and challenging, and we seek to do it with intellectual honesty, humility, and a sense of humor along the way."
Stage Focus
RPS Ventures invests exclusively in late-stage technology companies. Their typical entry points are:
- Series C
- Series D
- Series E
- Growth Equity
They do not pursue early-stage or seed investments. Target companies have demonstrated product-market fit, meaningful revenue, and are scaling operations domestically or internationally.
Check Size
RPS Ventures typically deploys between $5 million and $20 million per investment. The firm manages approximately $225 million across two funds (RPS Ventures I and RPS Ventures II, L.P.). At these check sizes, they invest alongside much larger co-investors in rounds that frequently exceed $50–500M in aggregate.
Lead Tendency
RPS is primarily a follow-on investor at the late stage. Across their portfolio of 16+ investments, approximately 3 have been as lead investor. A notable example of lead investing: RPS led Tala's $110M growth round in 2019. More typically, they participate alongside leading investors such as SoftBank, KKR, EQT, Point72, Sequoia India, and Accel.
Recent Activity
RPS Ventures is actively deploying from its second fund as of 2025–2026:
- February 2025: Participated in Luminance's $75M Series C led by Point72 Private Investments. Luminance is a UK-based Legal-Grade AI company serving law firms and legal departments.
- March 2025: Existing investor in ReliaQuest as the cybersecurity company raised $500M+ at a $3.4B valuation, led by EQT, KKR, and FTV Capital.
- June 2026: Made an investment in IVX Health, a national provider of outpatient infusion centers, per PitchBook data.
- December 2025: Portfolio company Meesho completed India's best IPO of 2025, per Forbes coverage.
Tracxn reports 2 new investments in the last 12 months as of July 2026, confirming active deployment.
Portfolio Highlights
RPS Ventures has built a global portfolio of 30+ late-stage technology companies across a wide range of sectors. Notable holdings and outcomes include:
- Plaid – Leading US fintech infrastructure platform connecting financial accounts to apps
- Meesho – India's social e-commerce platform; completed India's best IPO in December 2025
- Delhivery – India's largest logistics company; IPO on BSE/NSE in May 2022
- Rent the Runway – Fashion-as-a-service pioneer; NASDAQ listed
- MasterClass – Premium online learning platform with world-class instructors
- GetYourGuide – Global travel experience marketplace
- ReliaQuest – Agentic AI-powered cybersecurity operations platform valued at $3.4B
- Tala – Global microlender serving underbanked consumers and small businesses
- Luminance – Legal-Grade AI company raised $165M total
- At-Bay – Cyber insurance and security platform
- Bloomreach – Commerce experience platform for e-commerce personalization
- Blumira – Automated threat detection and security operations platform
- Glovo – European on-demand delivery platform
- Paack – European sustainable e-commerce delivery network
- Faros AI – Engineering analytics and developer productivity intelligence platform
- Fiddler AI – AI observability and model performance monitoring
- IVX Health – National outpatient infusion and injection center operator
- Handspring Health – Mental health platform for children and families
- ReliaQuest – AI-powered cybersecurity operations
- Versa Networks – SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) networking platform
Notable exits: Meesho IPO (Dec 2025), Delhivery IPO (May 2022), The Athletic (acquired by New York Times, 2022).
Team
- Kabir Misra, Co-Founder & Managing Partner — 13+ years at SoftBank including Managing Partner of Vision Fund; involved with boards of Flipkart, PayTM, Tokopedia, Coupang, and Fanatics; independent director at Alibaba. Harvard B.A. Economics, Stanford MBA. Also a board member of portfolio companies PayActiv and Cargomatic.
- Samantha Wang, Co-Founder & Managing Partner — Former Partner at Crosslink Capital; spearheaded global initiatives at LegalZoom and ran its UK office; investment banker at Deutsche Bank (Hong Kong, San Francisco, London); earlier investor at 3i Group. Stanford B.A. Economics.
- Timothy Murphy, Partner — Broad investing experience across public and private companies internationally; former investor at Capital Group (American Funds) and Janus Capital; former CFO of a venture-backed startup; engineering and operational roles at Schlumberger and Raynet (acquired by Ericsson). Stanford MBA, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, M.S. Material Science.
- Nancy Hilliker, Principal — Joined RPS in 2025 from Revolution Growth where she was an investor for 4+ years; prior equity research at Citi and Wells Fargo; economic consulting at Bates White. Wharton MBA, B.S. Finance from Canisius College; CFA charterholder.
- Aishwarya Rane, Investor — From LionTree TMT Investment Banking (advised software and internet companies on M&A and capital raising). UC Berkeley B.A. Data Science and Economics.
- Keeyan Irvije, Investor — From Needham & Company Technology Investment Banking (advised software and hardware companies on M&A and capital raising). UC Berkeley B.S. Business Administration.
- Rahul Sharma, Venture Partner — Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Structural Interventions at Stanford Healthcare; Professor of Medicine at Stanford; co-founder and Medical Director of Synchron, the world's first fully implantable minimally invasive brain-computer interface.
- Rishabh Sethia, Venture Partner — Former Senior Principal at Mubadala Investment Company leading AI, software, and fintech investments and managing LP partnerships; former Head of Business Development at Group.One. B.Sc. (Hons) Management from University of Warwick.
- Sudha Venkataramanan, CFO — Oversees all financial operations and compliance; former Accounting Associate at SoftBank managing portfolio reporting and auditing.
- Tiffany Machida, Operations Manager — Manages day-to-day office operations and supports portfolio companies. B.S. Business Administration from Saint Mary's College of California.
Decision Process
RPS operates with a partnership model anchored by two Managing Partners (Kabir Misra and Samantha Wang) and one Partner (Tim Murphy). The firm is lean and relatively small for a late-stage fund, with roughly 7 investment professionals. Decisions appear to be made by the managing partnership, allowing for faster cycles than large fund investment committees.
Geographic Focus
RPS Ventures is a genuinely global fund with significant exposure across:
- United States — Core market; Palo Alto HQ; companies like Plaid, ReliaQuest, MasterClass, Rent the Runway, PayActiv, Blumira
- India — Strong track record; Meesho (IPO 2025), Delhivery (IPO 2022), Acko (insurtech)
- Europe — Active in UK and Continental Europe; Luminance (UK, Legal AI), Glovo (Spain), Paack (Spain), GetYourGuide (Germany), Versa Networks (UK)
- Latin America — Clip/PayClip (Mexico, fintech), Tala (global including LatAm)
The team's global expertise — Kabir's 13 years across Asia from SoftBank, Samantha's Hong Kong and London experience — gives RPS a distinct sourcing and evaluation edge in non-US late-stage technology markets compared to typical Silicon Valley-centric funds.
Founder Preferences
RPS seeks to invest in founding teams that have demonstrated:
- Exceptional market traction with proven unit economics
- Strong leadership teams in large, transformable markets
- International or global market ambitions
- Operational rigor and readiness to scale with institutional capital
Their contact email ([email protected]) is public. Given their late-stage focus and size constraints ($225M AUM), they are selective and likely source deals primarily through their global network of SoftBank alumni, Crosslink-era relationships, and public market co-investors.