Colossa WomenFirst Fund raises Rs 100 Cr as first close
Colossa WomenFirst Fund will invest in startups with women founders or businesses where they are the main beneficiaries.
Colossa Ventures has raised Rs 100 crore as the first close for its maiden WomenFirst Fund as it aims to invest in startups that are founded or co-founded by women, and also include those where they are the main beneficiaries.
Founded by Ashu Suyash and Vandana Rajadhyaksha, the Colossa WomenFirst Fund raised capital from entities including SIDBI, Ranjan Pai’s family office, and Shriram Ownership Trust, among others.
The fund has a final target corpus of Rs 500 crore and aims to invest at the pre-Series A stage and beyond.
Though the fund will be sector agnostic, it sees opportunities in segments of healthcare and healthtech, fintech, climate and clean-tech, deeptech, and consumer brands.
On the first close of the fund, Colossa Ventures Founder and CEO Ashu Suyash said, “Colossa’s mission is to unlock the great potential of India’s trillion-dollar women economy that is not just under penetrated, but underinvested in, and underestimated. It seeks to do so by identifying, backing, and fast-tracking high-potential women entrepreneurs building disruptive businesses through powering them with Colossa’s proprietary 3C framework: capital, capability, and confidence.”
Both the founders of Colossa are seasoned finance professionals and have experience working at marquee companies.
Colossa Co-founder Vandana Rajadhyaksha said, “Women are at an inflection point of the Indian economy and the next decade is going to be owned by women entrepreneurs. We see this as an opportunity to build a unique portfolio catalyzing strong financial performance.”
Ranjan Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) said, "Colossa's vision resonates with our commitment to fostering long-term growth by powering underrepresented entrepreneurs in India.”
Edited by Kanishk Singh