The INR 300 Cr ($36.4 Mn) fund will back pre-Series A and Series A stage Indian startups
The fund will invest between INR 1 Cr and INR 10 Cr in startups in the digitalisation, sustainability, financial inclusion, consumption, and health sectors
The fund will facilitate companies in building initial product-market fit, attaining scalability and raising Series A round
Asset management firm Rockstud Capital on Monday (March 14) launched an INR 300 Cr ($36.4 Mn) second fund (Rockstud Capital Investment Fund II) to back pre-Series A and Series A-stage startups.
The angel fund will invest between INR 1 Cr and INR 10 Cr in 25 startups in the digitalisation, sustainability, financial inclusion, consumption, and health sectors. It will also offer a flexible ticket size in current and follow-on funding rounds.
The fund will facilitate companies in building an initial product-market fit, attaining scalability and raising a Series A round.
“As India moves towards becoming a $5 Tn economy, we feel this is an opportune time to enter the space, especially when companies are finding it difficult to raise capital. The fund will focus on partnering and identifying early-stage growth companies through a well-defined process and deep network to foster partnerships with founders building scalable businesses with a clear focus on profitability,” the founder and managing partner of Rockstud Capital, Abhishek Agarwal, said.
Founded in 2017 by Agarwal, Rockstud Capital is an alternative asset management firm that focuses on Indian companies via SEBI-regulated products. Some of its portfolio companies are Everest Fleet, BigHaat, Instoried, Smartvizx, Fabheads, and NOTO.
In 2018, it rolled out its first fund (Rockstud Capital Investment Fund–Series I), which invested in Pre-Series A stage startups and NSE-listed equities.
The development comes at a time when several institutional investors such as venture capital and private equity firms are setting up or closing their funds to back India’s troubled startup ecosystem.
In February, PeerCapital marked the first closure of its INR 300 Cr fund. In January Dallas Ventures set up an INR 350 Cr India-focused fund for enterprisetech startups.
In the same month, Z3Partners announced the closure of an INR 550 Cr fund and 100X.VC committed about $4 Mn in 25 startups.
Further, it is pertinent to note that as many as 126 VC funds raised over $18 Bn to back domestic startups last year.
