Early-stage tech-focused venture capital fund Inflexor Ventures has raised Rs 600 crore towards the final close of its new fund, driven by oversubscription from homegrown institutional investors.
The total fundraise has exceeded its initial target of Rs 500 crore and includes a green shoe option of Rs 100 crore, senior fund officials said.
“We started the fundraise during the first wave of Covid-19 last year and did the final close during the second wave. Despite the tough conditions, we are happy that we exceeded our domestic fund corpus target,” Vallabhaneni and Desai said in a joint statement.
“While the pandemic posed serious challenges globally, it has also acted as a catalyst for technology-based automation and digitization efforts around the globe, and we hope to invest in startups that will benefit from this trend that was underway even before the onset of the pandemic,” they added.
This is Vallabhaneni and Desai’s second venture together. They launched their first fund, Parampara, in 2015 and invested in 12 startups including PlayShifu, Atomberg, Entropik, Bellatrix and Cloudsek.
Funds backing early-stage startups are finding more takers among domestic institutional investors and family offices. From seed-angel funds to Special Opportunities and Distress funds, domestic investors deploying rupee capital have significantly more exposure to startups today. Not only has the bouquet of investments broadened, but fund sizes have also been inching up.
Funds such as Alteria Capital, Trifecta Capital, IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, Edelweiss Alternative Advisors and Tata Capital are among those that have either closed their capital raising or in the market to raise large rupee funds.
The total fundraise has exceeded its initial target of Rs 500 crore and includes a green shoe option of Rs 100 crore, senior fund officials said.
Inflexor joins a bevy of rupee funds that have raised capital from domestic investors in the recent past. SBICAP Ventures, SIDBI (from Fund of Funds for Startups), Suman Kant Munjal’s family office Survam and other family offices and ultra HNIs have also invested in the new fund.
Launched in early 2020, Inflexor Technology Fund takes small bets on startups leveraging deeptech, technology IP, innovation in areas like AI-ML, Industry 4.0, AR, VR, Big Data, Robotics, Cybersecurity, Blockchain and SpaceTech among others, the fund said.
It will look to invest in pre-Series A to Series B rounds with initial cheques ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 crore. It will also double down investments in winner portfolio companies.
The fund raised Rs 230 crore towards its first close in August last year.
The fund raised Rs 230 crore towards its first close in August last year.
The fund intends to invest in around 25 startups over the next 3-4 year period.
Founded in 2019 by Venkat Vallabhaneni and Jatin Desai, Inflexor Ventures has so far invested in four startups from its fund:
Founded in 2019 by Venkat Vallabhaneni and Jatin Desai, Inflexor Ventures has so far invested in four startups from its fund:
- Steradian, which develops AI-based surveillance systems for autonomous vehicles
- PlayShifu, which makes augmented reality-based education technology toys
- Vitra.ai, an AI-ML-based content translation platform
- Kale Logistics, an AI- and blockchain-enabled logistics tech company
“We started the fundraise during the first wave of Covid-19 last year and did the final close during the second wave. Despite the tough conditions, we are happy that we exceeded our domestic fund corpus target,” Vallabhaneni and Desai said in a joint statement.
“While the pandemic posed serious challenges globally, it has also acted as a catalyst for technology-based automation and digitization efforts around the globe, and we hope to invest in startups that will benefit from this trend that was underway even before the onset of the pandemic,” they added.
This is Vallabhaneni and Desai’s second venture together. They launched their first fund, Parampara, in 2015 and invested in 12 startups including PlayShifu, Atomberg, Entropik, Bellatrix and Cloudsek.
Funds backing early-stage startups are finding more takers among domestic institutional investors and family offices. From seed-angel funds to Special Opportunities and Distress funds, domestic investors deploying rupee capital have significantly more exposure to startups today. Not only has the bouquet of investments broadened, but fund sizes have also been inching up.
Funds such as Alteria Capital, Trifecta Capital, IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, Edelweiss Alternative Advisors and Tata Capital are among those that have either closed their capital raising or in the market to raise large rupee funds.
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