Kearny Jackson Launches Fund II and Adds Sunil Chhaya as Co-GP and Co-Founder
I am excited to share that my long-time friend Sunil Chhaya has joined Kearny Jackson as Co-GP and Co-Founder. We are also thrilled to launch KJ Fund II, a $14M fund to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups.
You can read more about our story on TechCrunch here.
Sunil and I met 6 years ago through a fantasy football (soccer) league and since then met every week at Kearny St and Jackson St in San Francisco. We quickly became good friends and shared several co-investments together. These streets laid the foundation for our personal and professional friendships. Back then we thought Kearny Jackson would be a great name for a side project …which turned out to be a great (and memorable!) name for a venture fund.
Sunil is a career institutional investor who has worked with successful investors at Tenaya, Nextworld, and Menlo Ventures. He has built strong relationships in the industry and has partnered with promising founders at the earliest stages. An example of his successful investments is Gong, a company he invested in when they were generating $500K in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Today, Gong has surpassed $200 million in ARR, is valued at more than ~$7B, and is on track to go public. His other investments include Relyance.AI, Observe.AI, Aircall, Strata, CtrlStack, and more. Sunil has sourced and deployed over $60 million, now worth ~$500M, in the last five years and looks forward to growing his track record with Kearny Jackson. Sunil brings a wealth of institutional investing experience and I am thrilled to have him on board.
We've also heard recurring perspectives on how our portfolio founders appreciate and resonate with our backgrounds and pairing as investors.
Dev Nag - Founder & CEO of CtrlStack [Sequoia Seed]
“I've worked with dozens of investors in my career — Kearny Jackson is at the absolute top tier in terms of value added. KJ was a partner to me and to CtrlStack since before day 1, and was the first committed capital. As I was working through my vision for CtrlStack, thinking through sequencing and resourcing, KJ helped me narrow down the strategic landscape and accelerate the drive toward product-market fit. I'd absolutely recommend them to any ambitious founder who seeks the one thing that separates the great investors on your cap table from the average ones: improved odds. And I'm not just a portfolio CEO — I'm an LP in the funds as well.”
Jordan Tigani - Founder & CEO of MotherDuck [Redpoint Seed, A16Z Series A]
“During our seed fundraising journey, we engaged with several venture capital firms, but Kearny Jackson stood out as exceptional partners. Their ability to add value during our critical pre-product stages and their expertise in finding product-market fit were truly differentiated. We are thrilled to have Kearny Jackson as an investor”
Itai Damti - Co-Founder & CEO of Unit [Accel Series B, Insight Series C]
"Sriram and Sunil may write checks as venture capitalists, but their contributions go far beyond the financial investment. They possess exceptional operational expertise and a vast network of industry contacts. A simple direct message is all it takes for them to quickly and diligently assist in any way they can. I highly recommend them as investors and valuable assets to any team”
I’m pumped he has joined KJ and can’t wait to help founders together!
You can read more about our story on TechCrunch here.