Inventus India rebrands as Athera Venture Partners, launches Rs 900 Cr fourth fund

Early-stage venture capital firm Inventus India on Wednesday launched its fourth fund with the target to raise Rs 900 crore. The sector-agnostic fund, which invests in B2B and B2C technology-driven startups, also rebranded itself as Athera Venture Partners.

In its fourth fund, Athera aims to invest in about 18 new startups across sectors, including the Internet of Things, consumer internet, mobile, SaaS, enterprise software, fintech, Web3, and deep technology. The ticket size will be in the range of Rs 5-45 crore and follow on in future rounds.

This is Athera Venture's fourth and largest fund. It has invested in the likes of redBus, PolicyBazaar, and Pixxel and had raised Rs 369 crore in its third fund.

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Athera Venture is investing in India since 2008 as part of a cross-border US-headquartered fund. It carved out an independent identity when it launched its third fund in 2018, which was solely raised by the three general partners—Parag Dhol, Rutvik Doshi, and Samir Kumar—and was dedicated to Indian startups.

Talking to YourStory, Rutvik Doshi, General Partner, Athera Venture Partners, said, “The launch of the fourth fund increases our commitment to the India opportunity.”

Across the three funds, Athera has invested in 35 startups. It will continue to hold relationships with its US partner in those portfolio companies where investments were made from funds 1 and 2.

To date, Athera has managed a total fund of Rs 863 crore, where it was part of one IPO and six profitable exits. It has an active portfolio of 23 companies.

On the performance of previous funds, Rutvik said it has generated an internal rate of returns (IRR), upwards of 20-25 percent from the first two funds, and added the third fund is showing similar potential.

On the rebranding of the fund, Parag Dhol, General Partner, Athera Venture Partners, said, “Our new brand identity reflects our ethos and philosophy and builds on the foundation of our legacy. It conveys our renewed commitment to startup founders. Our name expresses our intent of being companions to the founders we back, with long term support required in a dynamic environment.”