Self Reliant India, NewcrestImage Commit INR 60 Cr For Dallas Venture Capital’s India Fund

Cross-border venture capital firm Dallas Venture Capital (DVC) on Monday (June 26) said it has secured commitments for INR 60 Cr from Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund and NewcrestImage for its INR 350 Cr India-focussed fund.

While Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund, a domestic fund of funds, has committed INR 40 Cr, NewcrestImage, a diversified family office with holdings in real estate and alternative investments, and its associates have made a commitment of INR 20 Cr. These entities have joined as Limited Partners (LPs) for DVC’s India Fund, the VC firm said in a statement.

DVC India said it will utilise the fund capital to support faster growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that would facilitate building the overall economy and strengthening and maximising employment opportunities. A special focus for the VC firm is investing in enterprise B2B software startups.

Based out of Dallas and Hyderabad, DVC invests in cloud infrastructure, B2B SaaS, AI/ML, mobile, XR, and other emerging technologies. It has invested in over 30 companies so far and taken nine exits.

DVC India has already invested in MSMEs like Disprz, an AI-powered enterprise learning experience and upskilling platform, cybersecurity platform BluSapphire, and companies like Intellewings, Hippo Video, and VuNet, among others. 

The VC firm said that with nearly INR 1,000 Cr ($125 Mn), DVC is committed to deploying the funds and helping MSMEs across sectors to scale globally over the next few years. 

“Through these funds, we will make strategic investments in MSMEs which make technologies that help make India self-reliant and help them expand globally. We will help these MSMEs grow through DVC’s unique partnerships and global industry networks,” said Dayakar Puskoor, founder and MD of DVC.

Despite the ongoing funding winter, startups focussed on deeptech, emerging technologies, and enterprisetech are receiving a lot of interest from investors. 

Recently, climate-focussed VC firm Avaana Capital marked the first close of its Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund at $70 Mn. Last week, Blume Ventures also announced the first close of its new opportunity-cum-continuity fund, Fund 1Y. 

While investments in the Indian startup ecosystem have dried up over the past year or so, VC and private equity firms have been launching new funds for investing when the time is right. New funds worth over $3 Bn were announced in the first few months of 2023.