Investment management firm Anicut Capital on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 110 crore to acquire equity stakes in startups across sectors. This is the first close for the Rs 500-crore Anicut Opportunities Fund I. The fund will be deployed to take stakes in up to 15 growth stage companies, as per an official statement.

There is a Rs 250-crore greenshoe option as well for the newly started fund, it said without disclosing details of Rs 110 crore commitments. The firm also announced the appointment of Dhruv Kapoor as a partner who will be in charge of driving growth through equity investments.

The ten-year-old firm, which takes both venture debt and equity bets and has a portfolio of 72 startups, said the newly raised money will be deployed in both its existing investee companies and new ones. Its past investments include companies like Aptus, Fivestar, Box8, Bira, Lendingkart, Wow! Momo, and Loginext.

"Our understanding is that massive compounding of returns is yet to happen and we are sitting on early equity positions with tomorrow's market leaders. We firmly believe that once invested, we prefer to exit along with the founders," its founding partner Ashvin Chadha said.