pi Ventures Bags INR 22 Cr For Second Fund
Colruyt Group India, the Hyderabad-based IT division of the Belgian retail behemoth, has donated INR 22 Cr ($2.6 Mn) to venture capital firm pi Ventures, which specialises in early-stage startups. The venture capital firm anticipates closing the second fund later this year for between INR 675 Cr and INR 750 Cr. The fund will make investments in early-stage deeptech firms in a variety of industries, including blockchain, spacetech, and biotech.
The venture capital firm also intends to use the alliance to "unlock" possibilities for its portfolio firms in Europe. "We are grateful for Colruyt's help, and With the partnership with Colruyt, we look forward to opening doors in Europe for our portfolio firms, said Manish Singhal, founding partner of pi Ventures.
Hari Subramanian, MD of Colruyt Group India, commented on the fundraising, saying, "Our partnership with pi ventures is very advantageous as we passionately believe in the digital prospects where we ourselves are the greatest consumer of tech." We are thrilled to collaborate with Pi Ventures and its portfolio firms and to use our complementary skills to actively contribute to the development of the digital economy.
The news was made more than a year after pi Ventures revealed in January of last year that the first closing of its second fund had reached INR 303.5 Cr. In November 2022, British International Investment (BII), a provider of development financing in the UK, contributed $8 Mn to the Indian venture fund.
The fund is backed by Nippon India Digital Innovation fund, Accel, as well as angel investors such as Binny Bansal, Hemendra Kothari, Varun Alagh, among others. So far, the second fund has invested in seven startups, including Ottonomy, ImmunitoAI, and Silence Laboratories. Besides, the fund plans to invest in 20-25 startups in the next two to three years.
Founded in 2016 by Singhal, pi Ventures largely invests in early-stage deeptech startups in the domain of emerging technologies. The VC firm closed its first fund at INR 225 Cr in 2018 and backed 15 deeptech startups, including spacetech startup AgniKul, cloud marketing platform Pixis, and mental health app Wysa.
In March 2021, the current second fund was introduced with a base goal corpus of INR 675 Cr. Colruyt Group India, on the other hand, creates software solutions that range from maintaining current IT systems to creating products using cutting-edge technologies.
Overall, 2022 turned out to be a successful year for deeptech startups despite a decline in funding for most industries. According to Inc42 statistics, deeptech startups raised $1.5 Bn in funding in 2022, more than double the $451 Mn they received in 2021, despite market turbulence and investors tightening their purse strings. Earlier this month, deeptech startup Optimized Electrotech bagged INR 20 Cr in funding while IoT startup Intangles Lab secured $10 Mn in Series A round from Baring Private Equity Partners India.
The venture capital firm also intends to use the alliance to "unlock" possibilities for its portfolio firms in Europe. "We are grateful for Colruyt's help, and With the partnership with Colruyt, we look forward to opening doors in Europe for our portfolio firms, said Manish Singhal, founding partner of pi Ventures.
Hari Subramanian, MD of Colruyt Group India, commented on the fundraising, saying, "Our partnership with pi ventures is very advantageous as we passionately believe in the digital prospects where we ourselves are the greatest consumer of tech." We are thrilled to collaborate with Pi Ventures and its portfolio firms and to use our complementary skills to actively contribute to the development of the digital economy.
The news was made more than a year after pi Ventures revealed in January of last year that the first closing of its second fund had reached INR 303.5 Cr. In November 2022, British International Investment (BII), a provider of development financing in the UK, contributed $8 Mn to the Indian venture fund.
The fund is backed by Nippon India Digital Innovation fund, Accel, as well as angel investors such as Binny Bansal, Hemendra Kothari, Varun Alagh, among others. So far, the second fund has invested in seven startups, including Ottonomy, ImmunitoAI, and Silence Laboratories. Besides, the fund plans to invest in 20-25 startups in the next two to three years.
Founded in 2016 by Singhal, pi Ventures largely invests in early-stage deeptech startups in the domain of emerging technologies. The VC firm closed its first fund at INR 225 Cr in 2018 and backed 15 deeptech startups, including spacetech startup AgniKul, cloud marketing platform Pixis, and mental health app Wysa.
In March 2021, the current second fund was introduced with a base goal corpus of INR 675 Cr. Colruyt Group India, on the other hand, creates software solutions that range from maintaining current IT systems to creating products using cutting-edge technologies.
Overall, 2022 turned out to be a successful year for deeptech startups despite a decline in funding for most industries. According to Inc42 statistics, deeptech startups raised $1.5 Bn in funding in 2022, more than double the $451 Mn they received in 2021, despite market turbulence and investors tightening their purse strings. Earlier this month, deeptech startup Optimized Electrotech bagged INR 20 Cr in funding while IoT startup Intangles Lab secured $10 Mn in Series A round from Baring Private Equity Partners India.
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