Boutique equity investor ValueQuest has invested Rs 300 crore (about $36 million) in Kolkata-based photovoltaic solar cell maker Jupiter International Ltd that is looking to ramp up its manufacturing capacity.
The firm, which forayed into the private equity asset class last year, has deployed the capital via the ValueQuest SCALE fund, its first PE-style investment vehicle.
The investment will allow Jupiter to expand its current cell capacity and to begin module manufacturing operations. At present, the company has a cell manufacuring capacity of 800MW.
Jupiter International is planning to set up a 1.8GW solar cell manufacturing capacity and a 1.2GW solar module manufacturing facility. Apart from this, Jupiter International has also entered into a joint venture with Ampln Energy to develop an integrated solar cell and module capacity each.
Jupiter International was founded in 2009 by Alok Garodia. The company has a manufacturing facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.
Launched in October 2022, ValueQuest SCALE fund is a scheme of ValueQuest Alternate Investment Trust, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India as a category II alternative investment fund.
Founded in 2010, ValueQuest is a financial services firm which manages both private and publicly listed stocks. According to its website, ValueQuest manages assets worth more than Rs 13,500 crore and also offers portfolio management services. It is led by founder and chief executive officer Ravi Dharamshi and co-founder Sameer Shah.
ValueQuest has backed companies like TBO Tek and Rentomojo. In June, VCCircle reported that it invested Rs 70 crore for a minority stake in Kerala-based Sabine Hospital from the SCALE fund.
The firm, which has a sector-agnostic approach, targets growth and late-stage growth companies. It has invested across consumer, energy transition, healthcare, niche industrials and tech-enabled businesses.
Its maiden PE fund was floated with a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. It is now close to raising Rs 1,300 crore, higher than its inital target, VCCircle reported in June.
