Early-stage venture capital fund pi Ventures, which invests in artificial intelligence and deep-tech startups, has marked the final close of its second fund at Rs 702 crore ($82 million). The VC had exercised the green shoe option by raising Rs 137 crore more than the base target of Rs 565 crore.
The company has raised capital from British International Investment (BII), Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF (NIDIA), Accel, Colruyt, and Premji Invest for the second fund. Entrepreneurs and family offices such as Binny Bansal, Varun Alagh, Samit Shetty, Rajesh Ranavat, Anupam Mittal, Hemendra Kothari, Hitesh Oberoi, Ullas Kamath, Deep Kalra, senior leaders from IBM, Facebook and Google among others, have also invested.
Moreover, the government-backed Small Industries Development Bank of India returned as a key investor in pi Ventures’ second fund with a commitment of Rs 100 crore from the Fund of Funds for Startups managed by SIDBI, a statement said.
The fund will invest in startups focused on AI and other forms of deep tech across sectors, but not limited to Spacetech, Biotech, Blockchain and Material Science among others. The fund is targeting to invest in 20-25 such startups in the coming two to three years.
“We are very excited to get to the final close in our second fund. It will enable us to back bold entrepreneurs solving global fundamental problems using innovative technology. India is a great place to build deep-tech companies. We are privileged to have a role to play in the journey to put India on the deep-tech map of the world." said Manish Singhal, Founding Partner, pi Ventures.
pi Ventures will continue to focus on early-stage investments through this fund and so far has invested in seven startups — ImmunitoAI, Ottonomy.IO, Silence Laboratories, Preimage, Zero Cow Factory and two other ventures.
The VC closed its first fund of Rs 225 Cr ($30 million) in 2018 and has backed 15 deep-tech startups including Niramai, Pixis, Wysa, Agnikul, and Locus since its inception in 2016.
The company has raised capital from British International Investment (BII), Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF (NIDIA), Accel, Colruyt, and Premji Invest for the second fund. Entrepreneurs and family offices such as Binny Bansal, Varun Alagh, Samit Shetty, Rajesh Ranavat, Anupam Mittal, Hemendra Kothari, Hitesh Oberoi, Ullas Kamath, Deep Kalra, senior leaders from IBM, Facebook and Google among others, have also invested.
Moreover, the government-backed Small Industries Development Bank of India returned as a key investor in pi Ventures’ second fund with a commitment of Rs 100 crore from the Fund of Funds for Startups managed by SIDBI, a statement said.
The fund will invest in startups focused on AI and other forms of deep tech across sectors, but not limited to Spacetech, Biotech, Blockchain and Material Science among others. The fund is targeting to invest in 20-25 such startups in the coming two to three years.
“We are very excited to get to the final close in our second fund. It will enable us to back bold entrepreneurs solving global fundamental problems using innovative technology. India is a great place to build deep-tech companies. We are privileged to have a role to play in the journey to put India on the deep-tech map of the world." said Manish Singhal, Founding Partner, pi Ventures.
pi Ventures will continue to focus on early-stage investments through this fund and so far has invested in seven startups — ImmunitoAI, Ottonomy.IO, Silence Laboratories, Preimage, Zero Cow Factory and two other ventures.
The VC closed its first fund of Rs 225 Cr ($30 million) in 2018 and has backed 15 deep-tech startups including Niramai, Pixis, Wysa, Agnikul, and Locus since its inception in 2016.
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