IFC To Invest $10 Mn In Bengaluru Based VC Firm Stellaris Venture Partners

Bengaluru-based venture partner firm Stellaris Venture Partners has raised $10 Mn from investment firm International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

This is the third funding commitment by IFC in an India-focused VC fund this year. In March 2017, it proposed to make an equity investment of $3 Mn in the fund. This investment would be made through the IFC Startup Catalyst (ISC) programme.

Stellaris Venture Partners was launched in early 2016 by former Helion Venture Partners executives Ritesh Banglani, Alok Goyal, and Rahul Chowdhri. It is an early-stage venture fund with investment focus on global SaaS, apps for Indian small and mid-sized business (SMBs) and consumers in large verticals such as healthcare, education, financial services, and retail. In February this year, Stellaris had attained the first close of its $100 Mn maiden fund.

The Series A-oriented fund is focussed on areas including local language online services, technology-led financial inclusion, supply chain networks, vertical machine-learning applications and global SaaS businesses. The company will look to support 18-20 Indian companies.

In November 2016, IT services company Infosys announced plans to invest $4.6 Mn (INR 31.6 Cr) in Stellaris. As per an official statement in February 2017, the fund (Fund I) had raised $50 Mn capital commitments from financial institutions, corporates, entrepreneurs, and family offices in the US, Europe and Asia. A recent report released by DIPP and SIDBI stated that Stellaris has received $4.34 Mn (INR 28 Cr) commitment from the SIDBI. As per a disclosure by IFC, the next close is expected by June 2017.

In April 2017, Bengaluru-based startup, Whatfix raised $3.69 Mn (INR 24 Cr) Series A funding led by Stellaris with the participation of existing VC investors Helion Venture Partners and Powerhouse Ventures. Gokul Rajaram, Girish Mathrubootham (Freshdesk), Aneesh Reddy (Capillary Technologies), and Vispi Daver also participated in the round.

In January 2017, Gurugram-based mobile B2B marketplace Wydr raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners and Singapore-based Jungle Venture Partners. Axis Capital from Singapore also participated in the round.

(The development was reported by ET)