InCred Sets Up INR 500 Cr Maiden Credit Fund

Saurabh Jhalaria - CIO, Alternative Credit Strategies, InCred Asset Management

SUMMARY

The fund size will also have a greenshoe option of another INR 500 Cr

It is expected to make 20-25 investments, writing cheques worth INR 20 Cr - INR 25 Cr per transaction

InCred Asset Management’s existing portfolio also includes multi-cap, healthcare and Indian manufacturing-themed funds

Fintech startup InCred’s asset management arm has announced the debut of its maiden credit fund – InCred Credit Opportunities Fund I (ICOF I). The fund size will be INR 500 Cr with a greenshoe option of another INR 500 Cr.

The asset management firm has already marked the first close of the fund within three months of launch. It has raised INR 300 Cr from marquee family offices as well as several high-net-worth individuals (HNIs). The fund is expected to mark its final close by 2023.

InCred’s credit fund is expected to make 20-25 investments in ‘emerging corporates, financial institutions and platforms’, writing cheques worth INR 20 Cr – INR 25 Cr per transaction.

The startup-turned-investor has stated that the fund comes at a time when startups are increasingly diversifying their funding needs (to debt) and investors find the segment high-yielding. The fund will provide working capital solutions to companies, the AMC said in a statement.

The credit fund also adds to InCred Asset Management’s existing portfolio of multi-cap, healthcare and Indian manufacturing-themed funds.

Founded in 2016 by former Deutsche banker Bhupinder Singh, InCred is known for leveraging its risk analytics tech for lending to retail and MSME sectors. It offers various types of loans including personal, home, education, SME and two-wheeler.

The asset management arm was incorporated in 2019 and is led by Bhupinder Singh and Mrinal Singh. It offers several alternative investment opportunities to investors (and corporates to raise debt funds), including its Emerging Business Fund (that backs listed ‘emerging businesses’), two of its Alternative Investment Funds (for mid and small cap stocks) and more.

The fund comes at a time when companies are increasingly resorting to raising credit in a dearth of equity funding. In India’s startup ecosystem, InCred AMC’s maiden fund competes with the likes of Alteria’s INR 1,000 Cr fund, BlackSoil’s INR 250 Cr fund, Anicut Capital’s INR 875 Cr fund, Trifecta Capital’s INR 750 Cr fund and more.