Alteria Capital Advisors LLP, founded by former top executives at venture debt provider InnoVen Capital India Pvt. Ltd, has received the regulatory nod to launch its Rs 1,000 crore ($154 million) venture debt fund, according to media reports.
The venture debt firm has already received commitment of Rs 100 crore from a large domestic family office as an anchor investor, The Economic Times reported citing Vinod Murali, managing partner at Alteria Capital.
Alteria Capital could not be immediately reached out for comments.
The firm is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India as a category-II Alternative Investment Fund. The target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore includes a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore.
The first close of the fund is expected at Rs 400-500 crore in the first quarter of 2018 and complete the fundraising process in the second half of the year, Mint reported, citing Murali.
The venture debt firm is in talks with domestic public and private banks, insurance companies, family offices and public institutions for the fund.
The fund will invest at the Series A stage with a ticket size of Rs 3 crore in about 30 companies. The investment size could go up to Rs 100 crore.
Alteria also plans to set aside Rs 100 crore to make selective, small equity-based investments in startups that have borrowed from the fund in the past.
Alteria was floated by Ajay Hattangdi and Murali, who quit as the CEO and deputy CEO, respectively, at Innoven, which is backed by Singapore state investment firm Temasek.
Meanwhile, InnoVen Capital has appointed Ashish Sharma, former chief executive and president of GE Capital India, as the new chief executive officer of its Indian operations.
Venture debt is an important tool of funding for companies as it rarely involves stake dilution by the promoters. It also provides the companies more time to grow. The segment is growing in India even as venture capital activity is seeing a slowdown.
Apart from InnoVen Capital, Delhi’s Trifecta Capital Advisors, Bengaluru-based CapitalFloat, IFMR Capital of Chennai and Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart are leading players offering debt funding to early-stage companies in India.
