Early-stage venture capital firm Artha Venture Fund is facing a delay in hitting the final close of its debut fund due to the coronavirus pandemic and now hopes to finish the exercise by the end of this year, a top executive said.
The VC firm had marked the second close of the fund at over Rs 100 crore last year. Its overall target is Rs 200 crore.
In this VCCircle Podcast, managing partner Anirudh A Damani said the VC firm probably would have done the final close by June but it couldn’t meet its prospective Limited Partners in Japan, China and the Middle East because of the pandemic.
He added that Artha may dip into the fund’s greenshoe option to raise a larger amount.
Damani also talked about how some companies have been quoting higher valuations even in the face of the pandemic. “That is definitely concerning. There is over-optimism among entrepreneurs,” he said.
He also spoke about the themes the VC firm aimed to chase and follow-on rounds raised by some portfolio companies.
