Aniket PujariArtha India Ventures, which has bet on a range of companies including OYO, and space startup Agnikul, has raised ₹330 crore for Artha Select Fund (ASF), a follow-on investment fund focused on backing winners in its existing portfolio, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Mint.
New limited partners, or investors, in this round include Ashok Bharadia, chairman and managing director of Wallfort Financial Services, Harshal Morde, director of sales and marketing of Morde Foods, Manish Chhabra, managing director and CEO of Hygienic Research Institute Private Ltd (HRIPL), David Wilson, general partner at venture capital firm TYR Ventures, and Hira Group Family Office, among others, the person cited earlier said on the condition of anonymity.
The new investors hadn’t responded to Mint’s queries till press time.
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The follow-on fund with a target corpus of ₹330 crore is expected to achieve a final close at ₹350-375 crore, this person added. In October 2022, Artha had said that the ASF will also have a green shoe option to raise an additional up to ₹120 crore.
Artha Group confirmed that the fund has crossed the target amount of ₹330 crore, but did not disclose a timeline for its final close. The fund has already made its first investment in Agnikul.
ASF was first launched in 2022 by Artha Group, the family office of investors Ashok Kumar Damani and Anirudh Damani, which also houses a venture capital arm Artha Venture Fund. In June 2021, Artha Venture Fund made its final close at over ₹225 crore, exceeding its initial target corpus of ₹200 crore.
Portfolio and investment reach
Artha Group, the umbrella entity of ASF, has invested in over 100 startups across India, the US, Israel, Africa, and the UK. Its portfolio includes OYO, Purplle, LeverageEdu, Tala, IconBuild, Rapido, Coutloot, Chai Break, Karza Technologies, and Mobilewalla.
ASF was launched to back high-potential startups from the Artha Group portfolio, aiming to invest ₹20 crore each at the Series B and C stages in 12-14 startups, the company had earlier said.
The fundraise comes amid a revival in fundraising by Indian venture capital firms, with players like Bessemer Venture, Prime Ventures, and Accel Ventures also securing new funds after a slow funding period.
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Apart from the new LPs, Artha’s existing investors have also invested in the follow-on fund.
Family offices and institutional investors like the Pune-based Kirloskar Family Office, the family office of former Reliance Capital chief investment officer Madhusudan Kela, Abhinav Sinha (managing director, British International Investment), and Narendra Karnavat (chartered accountancy firm Karnavat and Co.) are among the existing backers that have invested in the ASF.
