India’s Speciale Invest, a seed-stage VC investing in deep science and enterprise technologies, has launched its first growth fund at over $24 million, to fund its portfolio companies at the Series A and beyond stages.
The fund, which has backed startups such as aerospace manufacturer Agnikul, robotics startup CynLr, space tech startup GalaxEye Space, and livestream engagement startup StreamAlive, invests in companies at a pre-revenue stage.
The company is likely to hit the first close for its growth fund at over Rs 100 crore in a few weeks, co-founder Vishesh Rajaram told DealStreetAsia in an interview, adding that the fund is expected to close in two quarters.
The growth fund will have cheque sizes between $1-2 million, Rajaram added.
Founded in 2017 by Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, Speciale invests in founders building deep tech or global SaaS startups. While its focus is on India, it has also invested in startups in the US, Israel, and Singapore.
Speciale raised its first fund in 2018 and has invested Rs 60 crore so far in 18 startups, with an average deal size of Rs 500,000. In April 2022, the firm marked the final close of its second fund at Rs 300 crore, being oversubscribed by twice the amount announced during the fund’s launch at Rs 140 crore.
From the second fund, the company has made 9-10 investments and expects to make 10-12 more. From its first fund, the company had 5 exits, all of them being M&As, Rajaram said.
Last month, the firm hired Vishnu Rajeev, formerly with Avaana Capital, as Investment Principal, to focus on identifying and evaluating opportunities in the mobility, climate tech, and energy sectors.