India's Avendus launches $350 million late-stage fund to invest in technology, healthcare companies

Financial services firm Avendus has announced the launch of its third Future Leaders Fund, aiming to raise Rs 3,000 crore, including a green-shoe option to raise an additional Rs 1,500 crore.

The late-stage fund will focus on large-cap investments in private markets, targeting sectors such as financial services, consumption, digital and technology, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Plans to make 10-12 investments

The fund plans to make 10-12 investments, with an average allocation of Rs 200-300 crore per investment. These investments will include both primary and secondary transactions in companies that have disaggregated institutional investor shareholding.

Companies chosen for investment will need to demonstrate a strategic competitive edge, execution capabilities across market cycles, and strong operating metrics with dominant market positions.

Leadership comments

Ritesh Chandra, managing partner at Avendus Future Leaders Fund, stated, "With Avendus Future Leaders Fund III, our approach remains straightforward - harnessing the vast potential of late-stage private opportunities while co-opting the existing financial sponsor ecosystem. We continue to back differentiated, high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive moats and a clear roadmap to liquidity."

The fund aims to provide consistent, predictable, and repeatable outcomes with reduced portfolio volatility, leveraging differentiated opportunities and multiple exit options, including secondary exits and sales through public markets.

Performance of the previous funds

The first two funds under the Avendus Future Leaders Fund platform have managed consolidated assets of over Rs 1,850 crore.

Notably, The first fund has returned the entire investor capital ahead of schedule, generating nearly four-fold returns within four years from investments like Lenskart Solutions Private Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited.

The second fund has completed 11 investments to date and plans to deploy its remaining capital in the coming months. Four portfolio companies from the second fund are expected to list on exchanges within the next 6-9 months.

Who are the investors and portfolio companies?

The FLF platform is backed by a diverse investor base, including prominent Indian and US family offices, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), and domestic institutions.

The FLF platform's portfolio includes companies such as Bikaji Foods, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Lenskart Solutions, National Stock Exchange, Delhivery, VerSe Innovation (Dailyhunt), SBI General Insurance, Licious, Juspay, Zeta, Indegene, Veritas Finance, FirstCry, Avanse Financial Services, and Xpressbees.