Early-stage investor India Quotient eyes $80-mn fund

Early-stage venture capital firm India Quotient on Thursday said that it has launched its fourth fund that aims to raise $80 million from global and domestic allocations. The home-grown fund will focus on local startups in the areas of SaaS, social media, edtech, and fintech. The new fund is looking to back about 35-40 startups.

India Quotient has so far funded close to 70 startups over the last eight years. “We are extremely excited to launch our fourth fund, after five successful career investment cycles till date, at an inflection point in India’s growth story,” Anand Lunia, founding partner, India Quotient, said in a statement.

The investors point out that among the portfolio companies that the fund has backed, nearly 80% have gone on to raise funds for follow-on rounds from marquee global investors. “We will back founders when nobody understands them,” Lunia said, adding that it is mandatory for the founders they back to aim high, have the capability to take on large incumbents, and have the desire to build companies that have the potential to go public.

The fund has backed companies such as Lendingkart, an online lending platform focussed on the MSME sector, ShareChat, a regional content-based social-media platform, cosmetics brand Sugar, and others.

“We truly believe that the time is right for India to put forth not just one but the next several global game-changing ideas with our depth of technology expertise and penchant for innovation,” Madhukar Sinha, partner, India Quotient, said in a statement.

Sinha further pointed out that the fund is expanding its global investor base and will work with about 20 family offices in India. “These business houses bring us credibility, access to markets, and their world of wisdom and we give them access to investments that were hitherto available only to overseas money,” he notes.

India Quotient is a sector-agnostic fund. It has invested in sectors like fintech, edtech, health tech, SaaS, and consumer tech, among others.