Funding: VC Firm StartupXseed launches Rs 200 Crores Funds For Deep Tech Startups

• StartupXseed Ventures has launched its second fund i.e., Fund II of ₹200 Crore, which will focus on early-stage investment in start-ups focused on deep technologies.
• Out of ₹200 Crore in Fund II, ₹65 Crore has been raised from individual technocrats and the balance amount will be raised over the next 6-9 months.
• StartupXseed Ventures made about 12 investments from Fund I, recording about three exits to date.

Bengaluru-based StartupXseed Ventures has launched its second fund i.e., Fund II of ₹200 Crore, which will focus on early-stage investment in start-ups focused on deep technologies.

StartupXseed Ventures is the Investment Manager of the “Aaruha Technology Fund” registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as Category I - under Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Regulations 2012.

With their funding campaign, the company seeks Investment opportunities from the Seed to Early Growth stage, where the Start-ups are prepared for growth and are ready for a transformation.

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Out of ₹200 Crore in Fund II, ₹65 Crore has been raised from individual technocrats and the balance amount will be raised over the next 6-9 months. Fund-II also has a greenshoe option of Rs 50 Crore.

Fund II will invest ₹3-10 crore per round in emerging deep tech start-ups from SaaS to Spacetech including cybersecurity, silicon IP, drone, aerospace sector, and artificial intelligence/machine learning. Fund-II will also look at opportunities in the fintech and health tech sectors, which it had not undertaken in its maiden fund.

“The portfolio continues to be healthy and these companies are on a growth path despite the current pandemic situation. Fund I returned 35% of the principal much before it had completed the final drawdown and investment cycle. In Fund II, we will continue to focus on Deep Tech companies with capital-efficient business models. Our strategy has worked out very well in Fund I and is reflected in the performance," said B.V. Naidu, Managing Partner, StartupXseed.

StartupXseed Ventures made about 12 investments from Fund I, recording about three exits to date. It has completely exited from ShieldSquare and Siliconch and has made a partial exit from HR SaaS provider Darwinbox. All three transactions took place in 2019.

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The other startups in Fund I include Bellatrix, CloudSEK, Singularity Dynamics, SmarterBiz, and Steradian Semiconductors.

“We were looking at seed-stage funding in fund I, and in fund II will look at seed to early growth stage so we will pick up little bit more equity... the horizon is looking good for investment with many advanced technologies being developed locally," said Ravi Thakur, co-founding partner, StartupXseed.

Beyond funding, StartupXseed helps the start-ups in their journey of building a sustainable business, by providing strategic support through Market Access, Mentorship, Corporate Governance, and connects them with investors.

StartupXseed was founded five years back by B. V. Naidu, former director, Software Technology Parks of India, Mohan Das Pai, co-founder of Aarin Capital, Ravi Thakur, and other entrepreneurs.

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