Trifecta Capital is planning to raise its second debt fund with a target corpus of Rs 500 crore ($74 million), along with a greenshoe option to raise another Rs 250 crore, a financial daily reported.
The venture debt provider is looking to mark the first close of the new fund at Rs 250 crore by the end of 2018.
Rahul Khanna, co-founder and managing partner of Trifecta, told Mint that while $70-80 million will come from rupee-equivalent investors, $40 million will be contributed by offshore investors.
Trifecta’s Rs 500-crore maiden fund, which counts RBL Bank and Azim Premji Trust as anchor investors, has so far invested in 30 companies, including BigBasket, PaperBoat, Rivigo, Nephroplus, Urban Ladder, Industrybuying, OneAssist, Urban Clap and IdeaForge. It will be fully deploy by the next quarter, Khanna added.
Founded by Nilesh Kothari and Rahul Khanna, Trifecta provides early-stage debt capital to Indian companies, primarily in the technology sector.
The report also said that Aakash Goel, the former vice-president at Bessemer Venture Partners, has joined Trifecta Capital as a partner.
Venture debt is an important tool of funding for companies as it rarely involves stake dilution by promoters. It also provides companies more time to grow. The segment is growing in India even as venture capital activity is seeing a slowdown.
In January, Temasek-owned InnoVen Capital had recorded a 25% jump in funding in 2017. It had disbursed $75 million (about Rs 477 crore) and had committed another $10 million last year.
A new entrant in the venture space is Alteria Capital Advisors LLP, founded by former top executives of venture debt provider InnoVen Capital India Pvt. Ltd. In March, the venture debt fund had marked the first close of its debut fund with commitments of Rs 356 crore ($54.76 million).
Bengaluru-based Capital Float, IFMR Capital of Chennai and Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart are others players offering debt funding to early-stage companies in India.