Early-stage venture capital fund 8i Ventures on November 3 said that it had achieved the first close of its $50 million second fund. “The fund has raised 50% of its targeted assets under management and achieved a first close of $25 million, raised largely from family offices like Salgaocars and Kothari (DSP) who were also invested in 8i Venture's first fund,“ the firm said in a statement.

The fintech and commerce focused fund plans to write $1.5-2 million cheques at the seed stage, going up to $10 million in subsequent rounds. The firm, founded in 2019 by Vikram Chachra & Vishwanath V, said it recorded one of the highest venture exits in India this April, when it partially exited a seed investment in portfolio company M2P at a 36X multiple over 2 years. 8i Ventures Fund I has grown 270% in three years, driven by early-stage investments in Slice, M2P and Blue Tokai, it added.

“We believe fintech is the single largest venture opportunity in India. Every single friction point in India’s financial economy is a potential billion-dollar startup opportunity. Fund 2 will have 15-20 companies that we will invest in over the next 3 years. We will invest at seed, with a USD 1.5-2 million cheque, going up to series B in the winners,” said Chachra.

8i Ventures General Partner Vishwanath said that Fund I portfolio winners already process $18 billion in payments annually, while cumulatively generating $100 million in gross profits. “At 8i, we wrote the first cheque to several outliers that at inception were unobvious winners. For Fund II, we will follow the same thesis, but with larger ownership across our investments,” he added.