Ankur Capital To Float INR 1,200 Cr Third Fund, Gets Commitments From BII & MacArthur

Early-stage venture capital firm Ankur Capital’s fund III, which aims to raise a target corpus of INR 1,200 Cr (about $150 Mn), has received commitments from two existing limited partners (LPs) – British International Investment and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The VC firm said that with Fund III, it will continue to focus on Pre-Series A investments. The fund will have entry check sizes in the range of $1-2 Mn, with support continued up to $10 Mn.  

With its Fund III, Ankur Capital will continue to invest in disruptive technologies with themes tapping into digital transformation and decarbonisation opportunities for both India and globally. It expects to close the fund by early next year.

The two new LPs have joined the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Self-Reliant India Fund who had earlier committed to the fund. 

Since its inception, the VC firm has backed deeptech innovations that address critical problems such as market supply chain efficiency, agricultural productivity, climate and health-linked innovations.

Ankur Capital’s earlier fund, Fund II, was closed in 2021. In March that year, it had announced closing an intermediate round of Fund II at INR 330 Cr with funding commitments from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and others.

So far, the VC firm has invested in over 30 portfolio companies, including seafood B2B platform Captain Fresh, biotech startup String Bio, battery chemistry developer Offgrid Energy Lab, and agri inputs marketplace BigHaat. 

Ankur Capital has over $200 Mn in assets under management (AUM) across its previous funds.

With a large portfolio in agritech, deep science and climate sectors, Ankur expects to continue leveraging these areas while expanding into newer themes, the VC firm said.

Ritu Verma, cofounder and managing partner at Ankur Capital, said, “At Ankur, we continue to be attracted to entrepreneurs creating the next generation of technologies across sectors and are particularly bullish about the deep science technologies, agtech and climate opportunities. We look forward to investing in the entrepreneurs building for the next decade with our sleeves rolled up.”

The fund supports its portfolio startups across stages of their growth journey by offering assistance such as consulting on market access, operational efficiencies, financial due diligence, and expansion ambitions, among other business aspects.

Abhinav Sinha, MD and head of technology and telecoms at British International Investment said, “Technology is key in addressing many developmental challenges, including poverty and climate change. Through our partnership with Ankur and the innovative businesses it supports, we can reach more smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities in India for better productivity and inclusion.”

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