pi Ventures Closes Fund II At INR 702 Cr To Invest In Spacetech, AI, Other Deeptech Sectors

Early stage venture fund pi Ventures has announced the final close of its second fund with a total commitment of INR 702 Cr ($85 Mn), closing it well above the base target of INR 565 Cr.

The fund will invest in startups working in areas like disruptive AI and deeptech, and sectors such as spacetech, biotech, blockchain, and material science, among others.

The fund is backed by renowned institutional players like British International Investments (BII), Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF (NIDIA), Accel, Premji Invest, and Colruyt, along with entrepreneurs such as Binny Bansal, Samit Shetty, Rajesh Ranavat, Varun Alagh, Anupam Mittal, Hitesh Oberoi, Ullas Kamath, and Deep Kalra.

Senior leaders from IBM, Facebook, and Google also infused money pi Ventures’ second fund. Besides, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has returned as a key investor in the fund with a commitment of INR 100 Cr from its Fund of Funds for startups.

pi Ventures will continue to focus on seed to Series A investment rounds with its second fund. It has already invested in seven startups, including ImmunitoAI, Ottonomy.IO, Silence Laboratories, Preimage, and Zero Cow Factory. 

The VC firm plans to invest in 20-25 such startups in the next two to three years via this fund.

“It (the Fund II close) will enable us to back bold entrepreneurs solving global fundamental problems using innovative technology. India is a great place to build deeptech companies. We are privileged to have a role to play in the journey to put India on the deeptech map of the world,” said Manish Singhal, founding partner at pi Ventures.

Established in 2016 by Singhal, pi Ventures closed its Fund I at INR 225 Cr ($30 Mn) in 2018. The first fund had also exceeded its target and backed 15 deeptech startups, including Agnikul, Locus, Niramai, Pixis, and Wysa.

pi Ventures completed the first close of its Fund II at INR 300 Cr ($40 Mn) in January 2022. The fund had a greenshoe target of INR 750 Cr ($100 Mn).

Earlier, the VC firm had a target of closing the second fund by March 2023.

It must be noted that pi Ventures’ fund close comes after several VC funds, including 3one4 Capital, Arkam Ventures, Blume Ventures, Vertex Ventures, have either launched or closed their various funds in the three months while the domestic startup ecosystem continues to grapple with the ongoing funding winter. However, visibly, deeptech and AI continue to attract investors.