Early-stage venture capital firm Inventus India has launched its fourth fund (Fund IV) with a target corpus of $120 million (Rs 900 crore), it announced on Thursday.
The firm has also rebranded itself as Athera Venture Partners.,
With Fund IV, Athera will continue its core strategy of investing in early rounds of tech-focused companies with an emphasis on emerging technology sectors, the firm said in a statement.
The new fund will target themes including the internet of things, consumer internet, mobile, SaaS, enterprise software, Fintech, Web 3.0 and deep technology. Its ticket sizes will fall in the range of Rs 5-45 crore. The fund will also make follow-on funding in portfolio firms.
“With our new fundraise, we wish to literally triple down on the start-up ecosystem in India that is on a bullish growth trajectory. At Athera, we are committed to identifying and supporting India’s most visionary tech entrepreneurs. We recognize that building the next generation of companies requires patient, supportive capital and a flexible and collaborative approach that we are uniquely positioned to offer since it has been our core philosophy for more than a decade now,” said Rutvik Doshi, general partner, Athera Venture Partners.
Inventus Capital Partners was established in 2006 as a cross-border firm investing in the US and India. In 2018, the general partners of Athera Venture Partners raised an oversubscribed Inventus III – India Fund with a corpus of Rs 369 crore.
Inventus III – India Fund has invested in 13 technology startups including Playshifu, an interactive educational toys and games company; Pixxel, a space technology company; and Euler Motors, an automotive technology startup focused on commercial electric vehicles.
Athera has advised/managed three prior funds totalling Rs 863 crore ($136 million). Across the prior funds, the firm has been part of one IPO and six profitable exits (PolicyBazaar). Currently, Athera has an active portfolio of 23 companies including HealthifyMe, Tricog, MoveInsync, among others.
On the rebranding, Parag Dhol, General Partner, Athera Venture Partners said, “Our new brand identity reflects our ethos and philosophy and builds on the foundation of our legacy. It conveys our renewed commitment to startup founders. Our name expresses our intent of being companions to the founders we back, with long term support that is required in a dynamic environment.”
A bunch of Indian venture capital companies have raised new funds in the past few months. In March, Inflection Point Ventures launched its new fund Physis Capital with a corpus of $50 million and a greenshoe option of another $25 million. The same month, Accel launched its seventh $650-million funding to invest in startups across India and Southeast Asia.
Last November, Blume Ventures hit the first close for its fourth fund at $105 million. Blume Fund IV has a target corpus of $200 million.