Indian mid-market private equity (PE) firm Amicus Capital Partners has garnered $40 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) as it looks to ramp up investments in the country’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Amicus Capital, which has backed startups such as online insurance platform RenewBuy, Capital Small Finance Bank and Berar Finance, is understood to be on track to raise a total of about $200 million for the vehicle.
In April, DealStreetAsia had reported that the firm had secured the first close of its second investment vehicle at $75-100 million (Rs 600-800 crore). Sources had then told us that the firm is eyeing investments in India’s fast-growing sectors such as financial services, consumer, healthcare, technology, and business services.
The development marks EIB’s first investment in an Indian PE fund that adopts a generalist strategy.
In a statement, EIB Vice-President Kris Peeters said that the investment is in “alignment with the strategic EU priorities in India”.
“In a challenging fundraising environment, this investment promises high additionality, and will promote crowding-in and the diversification of the investor base,” he added.
Floated by industry veterans Sunil Vasudevan and Mahesh Parasuraman, Amicus raised $200 million for its first investment vehicle in 2015. The first fund received the backing of a host of offshore investors from Asia and Europe.
While Vasudevan was earlier a partner at homegrown PE giant India Value Fund Advisors, Parasuraman served as the managing director at US-headquartered Carlyle India Advisors.
As of date, Amicus has a portfolio of 10 companies. This includes housing finance company Altum Credo Home Finance, work fulfilment platform Awign, caffeine-infused personal care brand mCaffeine, customer analytics and cross-channel engagement platform MoEngage, SME lending startup Namaste Credit, SaaS-based logistics startup Pickrr, and kitchen appliances maker Wonderchef.
The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union. It is the largest multilateral public bank in the world. In 2022, it made investments worth around 10.8 billion euros ($11.82 billion) outside the EU.