Anicut Capital has launched the Grand Anicut Seed Fund, an early-stage investment vehicle with a target corpus of Rs 175 crore and a Rs 75 crore greenshoe option.
The fund is registered with SEBI as a Category I Alternative Investment Fund and will invest across pre-seed to Series A stages in deep-tech, enterprise-tech, consumer and financial services startups.
Anicut aims to back more than 20 startups through the fund, with cheque sizes typically ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 8 crore.
Three deals have already been closed, with the fund targeting a first close of around $10 million in the coming month, backed by institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals and family offices.
This is Anicut Capital’s second early-stage fund, following the Grand Anicut Angel Fund, which has made 68 investments since 2021.
Portfolio companies from that earlier fund have collectively raised more than Rs 6,000 crore in follow-on capital, with average revenue growth of tenfold.
Ajay Anand, Partner at Anicut Capital, said the firm’s early-stage strategy had been validated through the previous fund and that the new one builds on that track record.
The launch comes as Indian early-stage investors increasingly diversify beyond artificial intelligence into sectors including manufacturing, deep-tech and enterprise software.
The launch comes in a week that saw Indian startups collectively raise $209 million, with manufacturing, aerospace, enterprise software and healthtech standing out as the leading investment themes.
The fund is expected to be deployed over approximately three years, with about 70 per cent set aside for new investments and 30 per cent reserved for follow-on rounds.
India’s early-stage funding environment has seen investors increasingly diversify beyond artificial intelligence in recent months, with manufacturing, deep-tech, enterprise software and healthtech drawing larger allocations.
Category I Alternative Investment Funds registered with SEBI are typically used by venture capital and angel investment vehicles in India to pool capital from institutional and high-net-worth investors under a regulated structure.
(Image: Photo by Libreravi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
