Anicut Capital launches Rs 175 Cr seed fund to back early-stage startups
According to a statement, Grand Anicut Seed Fund will focus on investing in startups at the pre-Series A and Series A stages, targeting sectors such as deeptech, enterprise technology, consumer businesses, and financial services.
Chennai-based investment firm Anicut Capital has launched its second early-stage investment vehicle, the Grand Anicut Seed Fund (GASF), with a target corpus of Rs 175 crore and an additional greenshoe option of Rs 75 crore.
According to a company statement, GASF will focus on investing in startups at the pre-Series A and Series A stages, targeting sectors such as deeptech, enterprise technology, consumer businesses, and financial services.
The fund aims to support more than 20 startups, with planned investments ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 8 crore per company. Through GASF, Anicut Capital seeks to expand its early-stage investment portfolio and back emerging companies with high-growth potential.
On the launch of the new fund, Ajay Anand, Partner, Anicut Capital, said, “Our early-stage investment strategy has been validated through our previous fund, Grand Anicut Angel Fund, which is currently tracking materially ahead of relevant benchmarks and has backed several category-defining companies.”
“With our second fund, we aim to build on this proven strategy by partnering with exceptional founders in their 0-to-1 journey, providing both capital and strategic support as they create next-generation categories and build enduring, market-leading businesses,” he said.
According to the investment firm, GASF is expected to achieve its first close soon, with participation from a diverse group of limited partners, including institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), and domestic and international family offices.
The investment firm has already begun deploying capital from the fund and has closed three investments, it said.
Anicut has been active in the early-stage startup ecosystem since 2021 through its Grand Anicut Angel Fund (GAAF), which has made 68 investments across pre-seed to pre-Series A stages.
According to Anicut, companies in the GAAF portfolio have collectively raised more than Rs 6,000 crore in follow-on funding and have recorded 10x revenue growth since receiving their first investment from the fund.
GAAF’s portfolio includes startups such as Agnikul Cosmos, GIVA, CapGrid, InspeCity, Leumas, Neeman’s, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Snapmint, Salty, GRIP, GalaxEye, The ePlane Company and E-Trnl.
Edited by Megha Reddy