Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) Tuesday announced that it has reached the first close of its third fund at Rs 225 crore. Separately, Anicut Capital has secured Rs 50 crore from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for the Anicut Equity Fund.
Unicorn India hits first close of Fund III
Early-stage venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) Tuesday announced that it has reached the first close of its third fund at Rs 225 crore. The fund has a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore and is expected to hit the final close by March 2024.
With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 25 startups that are focused on global SaaS and digital platforms. The Fund will also be looking at newer sectors of climate tech, agritech, space tech and semiconductors.
The Fund would look at investing a first cheque of around $1 -2 million and would then look to invest in the follow-on round.
“Our focus is to invest in companies that are enablers of India’s digitisation across sectors. We avoid high cash burn businesses like D2C, consumer internet, and content businesses,” said Unicorn India Ventures managing partner Bhaskar Majumdar.
UIV’s Rs 200-crore third fund, which was launched in 2020, has a portfolio of 20 companies.
Anicut fund secures capital from SIDBI
Alternative investment firm Anicut Capital Tuesday announced that it has secured an investment of Rs 50 crore from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for the Anicut Equity Fund.
The investment comes through the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), launched under the Startup India Initiative by the Government of India, Anicut said in a statement.
Anicut Equity Fund launched its Grand Anicut Fund in June last year with a total targeted corpus of Rs 500 crore, and a greenshoe option of Rs 250 crore. The investment firm has closed two-thirds of the fund and has also received a commitment of Rs75 crore from the Self Reliant India Fund (SRI).
Within the first year of operations, the fund has already invested in six companies including Earth Rhythm, Neemans, Wheelocity, The Ayurveda Experience, Blue Tokai Coffee and XYXX. With a focus on consumer and technology sectors, the fund aims to invest in 12-14 early growth-stage companies (Series A and B) across Anicut and non-Anicut portfolios over the next 18-24 months.