Chennai-based Vivriti Capital Pvt. Ltd, which runs an online platform for institutional debt in India, will launch an alternative investment platform, founder Vineet Sukumar said.
The platform initially aims to house two vehicles of Rs 250 crore each ($35 million) to invest in corporate debt, structured finance transactions as well as quasi-equity structures, he told VCCircle on Monday.
He said that Vivriti is reaching out to potential domestic and offshore investors for the platform and that a process to register with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is running simultaneously.
Sukumar also said that the platform has received a commitment from some investors and the platform will start investing the moment they hit Rs 100 crore each for the vehicles.
The company plans to register the vehicles under the Category I and Category II umbrellas. Under the AIF regulations, Category I AIFs include venture capital funds, infrastructure funds and social venture funds while Category II comprises private equity funds and debt funds.
Over time, Vivriti aims to manage specific thematic funds that focus on targeted sectors or specific financial products. "Wealth and offshore markets will, in particular, be key areas of focus," he said.
Gaurav Kumar, founder and director of Vivriti Capital, said in a separate statement that the alternative assets platform is a critical part of its strategy to be a full-service debt provider to companies and financial institutions. The platform will benefit from the due diligence and risk management infrastructure that Vivriti Capital already has in place, the statement added.
Vivriti Capital was founded in June 2017 by Kumar and Sukumar, both former executives at IFMR Capital, the non-banking finance arm of Chennai-based IFMR Group. The company is a tech-enabled online marketplace that offers customised debt products to institutional clients.
The startup offers loans, working capital, structured debt and fixed-income capital market instruments using data analytics and algorithms. It also offers financial advisory services.
It had received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to float an NBFC in January 2018.
In December, Vivriti Capital had raised Rs 200 crore (about $28.5 million) in equity funding from US-based impact investor Creation Investments.
SEBI had introduced its AIF regulations in 2012 to supervise private equity funds, real estate funds and hedge funds, besides encouraging new capital formation and protecting investors. Since then, more than 500 AIFs have registered with SEBI across all categories as on November 2018.
Affluent investors in India have long been keen on exploring alternative investment options to diversify their portfolio, giving rise to an increase in AIFs, according to industry observers.