Early-stage investment firm AdvantEdge has received significant capital for its second fund from the scions of two major business houses, while Kae Capital is raising an add-on fund to invest in some portfolio companies of its debut vehicle, according to their top executives.
Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, vice-chairman of Samvardhana Motherson Group, and Abhimanyu Munjal, managing director of Hero FinCorp, have together put in an anchor investment of Rs 100 crore in AdvantEdge’s second fund -- AdvantEdge Founders Fund-II, The Economic Times reported, citing the investment firm's managing partner Kunal Khattar.
The second fund, which is targeting to raise Rs 300 crore, aims to make the first close by March this year as it has already received hard capital commitments of more than Rs 100 crore, Khattar told ET.
The new fund will continue to focus on investing in the mobility space and will look to invest Rs 1-3 crore in a portfolio firm. It will look to expand its scope by including "digital, logistics and smart cars," Khattar told the business news daily.
AdvantEdge's investment from its first fund comes from sectors such as mobility (Rapido, Shuttl, CatchThatBus), digital media (Tripoto, TrulyMadly, ScoopWhoop), learning and jobs (IIMJobs.com, Smartivity, OnlineTyari), software-as-a-service (Wigzo, RepUp), fin-tech (IndiaLends) and consumer-tech (CoHo).
Separately, the Mint newspaper reported that the VC firm is raising an add-on fund of Rs 100 crore to invest in portfolio firms of its first fund even as it is already deploying money from its second fund.
Kae Capital had raised $25 million for its fund in 2012 and the capital has been fully deployed.
The add-on fund will be selectively invested in the best companies from its Fund I portfolio, Sasha Mirchandani, founder and managing director, Kae Capital, told the business news daily.
Kae Capital's first fund portfolio, which has raised multiple rounds, include omnichannel health products store HealthKart and online fashion marketplace Fynd.
In September 2017, Kae Capital had marked the final close of its second fund at $53 million (Rs 339 crore), surpassing its target of $50 million.
The VC firm's recent investment include tech-enabled logistics startup Freightwalla, software-as-a-service platform Hiver and employee engagement platform Disprz.
