NIIF Backs Amicus Capital’s Second Fund With $25 Mn

India’s quasi-sovereign fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIF) has committed INR 207 Cr ($25 Mn) to the second vehicle of India-focussed growth capital fund Amicus Capital Partners.

The investment is from NIIF Fund of Funds – I, the first fund under NIIF’s Private Markets business.

Amicus, which invests in businesses across sectors such as speciality manufacturing, technology and business services, is targeting a $200 Mn (about INR 1,670 Cr) corpus for its second fund. It counts mCaffeine, Wonderchef and MoEngage as among its portfolio companies. 

Founded in 2016 by Sunil Theckath Vasudevan and Mahesh Parasuraman, Amicus is a private markets business (PMF-I), which is dedicated to supporting Indian startups. It aims to invest in capital-efficient and fast‑growing businesses looking to scale up once the business model is proven and partners with entrepreneurs to create category leaders.

Parasuraman said “Including NIIF’s commitment, our second fund has raised $171 Mn (INR 1,415 Cr) as of today. NIIF’s expertise and network will be invaluable as we continue to identify and support promising businesses early in their growth cycle.”

Currently, Amicus claims to have assets under management (AUM) of $259 Mn (about INR 2,150 Cr) across two funds. 

According to the venture capital (VC) fund, it has created a portfolio of eight complementary funds across various strategies such as growth equity, venture capital, buyout and credit.

NIIF was created by the government of India in 2015 as a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors. It manages funds with investments in different asset classes and diversified sectors that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns. 

Currently, the platform manages over $4.9 Bn of equity capital commitments across its four funds – Master Fund, Private Markets Fund, Strategic Opportunities Fund and India-Japan Fund. 

According to a study conducted by CRISIL, the Indian government has facilitated investments worth INR 17,534 Cr in 938 unique Indian startups via the FoFs since the plan’s inception in 2016 until November 2023.

Recently, at the state level, the Karnataka government announced the launch of an INR 20 Cr venture capital (VC) fund to support animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) startups.

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