AdvantEdge Founders Launches $42 Mn Fund To Invest In Transport Tech, Logistics Startups

Delhi-based early-stage consumer technology venture capital fund AdvantEdge Founders has announced its second fund, AdvantEdge Founders Fund II with a target of raising a corpus of $42 Mn (INR 300 Cr) with a focus on mobility.

The mobility first Transformation Fund will focus on investing in early-stage startups across the shared mobility, smart cars, digital auto and logistics domain. The fund will invest in companies early in their journey and work closely with compelling founders and management teams to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns.

For the second fund, AdvantEdge has already received commitments of $14 Mn (INR.100 Cr) from its existing Fund I anchor limited partners (LPs) and is working to secure additional commitments of $28 Mn (INR 200 Cr).

Kunal Khattar, managing partner, AdvantEdge Founders said, “We are looking to bring on board leading players in the automobility ecosystem including OEMs, component manufacturers, mobility solution providers and aftermarket auto distributors as LP’s in this sector focussed fund. We promise them key insights into technologies and startups disrupting their domain and first-mover access to strategic M&A opportunities at the corporate level.”

The company spent three years in deploying Fund I across the consumer tech space with a focus on shared mobility. They claim to have recognised key mobility trends very early, after having invested in startups like Shuttl, Rapido and Chalo.

Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, vice chairman of Samvardhana Motherson Group, an anchor LP in both Fund I and II, said, “I am now looking for disruptive technologies in the smart and connected car space which can be potential areas for us to collaborate on to give the group a competitive advantage in our areas of operations.”

The company has recorded gross internal rate of return (IRR) of 84% from the mobility portfolio under Fund I. They plan to duplicate its successful strategy from the earlier fund into Fund II by expanding the mobility space to include technology opportunities in smart, electric and autonomous cars, aftermarket parts and services, auto ecommerce and logistics, warehousing, transportation and distribution.

AdvantEdge Founders believe that new business models driven by shared mobility, connectivity, electrification and smart solutions including autonomous technologies could expand new mobility solutions 50x into a $1.5 Tn market by 2030.

India is expected to emerge as the world’s third-largest passenger-vehicle market by 2021. In the Automotive Mission Plan 2026, the government and industry have set a target to triple industry revenues, to $300 Bn, and expand exports sevenfold, to $80 Bn.

Update: September 23, 2019

The headline of the story has been updated to replace “traveltech to “transport tech”.