Venture Debt Fund InnoVen Capital Invests $16 Mn in 13 Startups in Q4 2016

Mumbai-based venture debt fund InnoVen Capital has extended debt funding of more than $16 Mn (INR 110 Cr) in 13 new deals.

A statement issued by the fund stated that its deployment for the year totalled almost $58.6 Mn, (INR 400 Cr) across 43 loans, to 35 startups. Out of these, 26 investments were new additions to the portfolio.

Talking about the funding Vinod Murali, Managing Director, InnoVen Capital said, “Venture debt is steadily getting established as an important component of funding rounds. Our ability to fund cheque sizes ranging from INR 2 Cr–INR 50 Cr allows us to straddle the different lifecycle stages of companies. We are also actively exploring debt funding for growth-stage, non-VC backed companies as well, which have the ability to show differentiation that translates to enterprise value.”

Started in 2008, InnoVen Capital, is backed by top-tier venture capital and private equity investors. Formerly known as SVB India Finance, it was rebranded as a result of being acquired by Singapore-based Temasek Holdings in 2015. The fund has disbursed over 140 loans to more than 90 early- and mid-growth stage startups, including BYJU’s, Snapdeal, Freecharge, Myntra, Practo, Portea, Voonik, etc.

Startups that were funded by InnoVen in the last three months include Bengaluru-based food-ordering app Swiggy; Mumbai-based, online insurance distribution platform Coverfox, Bengaluru-based online furniture rental company Furlenco. Other startups include Flyrobe, Zelo, Unbxd, and Surewaves. They also include repeat deals done with XpressBees and Universal Sportsbiz.

Out of the total funding, 55% comprised venture debt to early-stage companies, whereas 45% was growth capital to businesses that are relatively larger.

Earlier in September 2016, InnoVen extended loans worth $6 Mn to Capillary Technologies and Simplilearn Solutions. Since inception it has loaned over $185 Mn (INR 1260 Cr) in venture debt across 140 deals from diverse sectors.