IvyCap Ventures raises $19 mn in first close for maiden fund

IvyCap Ventures, an early-to-growth stage venture capital firm based in Mumbai, has raised commitments worth Rs 105 crore (approximately $19 million) as part of the first close of its targeted Rs 200 crore (about $36 million) fund. The fund, dubbed IvyCap Ventures Trust Fund I, is also in the process of finalizing two investment deals worth a cumulative Rs 25 crore. A significant portion of this fund has been raised from IIT and IIM alumni.

“The commitment for the first close have come from large institutional investors and a group of individual investors. We are now focusing our efforts on closing a few transactions and raising the balance of the fund,” Vikram Gupta, IvyCap founder and managing director, told StartupCentral in an email. Five financial institutions including three large nationalized banks, a large financial institution and a government department have made a combined commitment of Rs 65 crore as part of the first close. IIT Alumni Trust is the anchor investor and has committed Rs 40 crore.

In terms of investments, one of the companies with which the fund is currently in negotiations with provides agriculture related information to farmers and rural-focused businesses. The company currently reaches one million farmers in 35,000 villages across 13 states and closed calendar year 2011 with revenues at Rs 11 crore.

The fund plans to do a maximum of five deals a year, investing between Rs 2 crore and 40 crore over the life of a company. It will invest only in post-revenue companies, which implies the Series A round and onwards. In terms of sectors, the fund will be largely sector agnostic in its approach though it will look more closely at companies in the healthcare, lifesciences and cleantech areas.

Prior to starting IvyCap, Gupta raised and invested a Rs 400 crore lifesciences and healthcare focused fund for Ajay Piramal Group-backed IndiaVenture Advisors. Apart from him, the core investment team comprises of Ashish Wadhwani and Norbert Fernandes.

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