StartupXseed Launches INR 200 Cr Fund focused at Deep Tech StartupsThe early and growth stage VC firm has raised INR 65 crore of the total amount and aims to close the fund in the next 6-9 months

Early stage venture capital firm StartupXseed on Tuesday announced its second fund of INR 200 crore focused at B2B companies in deep tech space.

The VC firm has raised INR 65 crore of the total amount from some existing as well as new partners and aims to close the fund in the next 6-9 months.

Founded in 2015 by former director of STPI B. V. Naidu and Ravi Thakur along with Mohandas Pai of Aarin Capital and V. Balakrishnanand, among others, StartupXseed is a sector agnostic fund that makes seed to early growth stage investments.

Bengaluru-headquartered基金投资12 depp tech startups, including the likes of Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS), manufacturer of industry grade drones, AI-powered fresh food aggregator AIBono, cybersecurity solutions provider Anlyz, AlphaIC which designs AI chips, aerospace startup Bellatrix, AI-powered risk management startup CloudSEK, cloud-based HCM platform DarwinBox and AI-powered customer experience platform SmarterBiz, among others.

"StartupXseed has found its niche and unique positioning amongst venture funds. It will continue to build on its Fund I performance. India is today at the cusp of building technology innovations and start-ups are at the core of it playing a pivotal role and Venture funds like StartupXseed catalyses the growth of these start-ups," said Pai.

Fund I has returned 35 per cent of the principal amount and has registered three successful exits, the company stated.

Fund II will dedicate INR 3 crore to INR 10 crore per round in deep tech start-ups in the areas of SAAS, spacetech, cyber security, Silicon IP, healthtech, fintech, agritech and AI/ML.

"In the Fund II, we will continue to focus on Deep Tech companies with capital efficient business models. Our strategy has worked out very well in the Fund I and is reflected in the performance. Over these years, we have built a team,quality deal flow network, deal evaluationframework, post investment hand-holding and demonstrated exits," saidNaidu ,Managing Partner, StartupXseed.

Apart from capital, the fund claims to support investee companies in their journey of building sustainable business by providing strategic support through market access, mentorship, corporate governance, excelerate and follow-on investor connect.