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Alteria Capital said on April 9 that it has raised Rs 1,325 crore for its second fund to provide loans to startups, the latest sign of the startup funding frenzy underway in India and indicating huge demand for experienced fund managers. Alteria has marked a so-called ‘first close’, which allows it to start investing from the fund, even as it continues raising more money in parallel for the fund. It is aiming for a final close of about Rs 1,700 crore in the next 3-4 months.
“100 days of Zoom calls with over 200 investors,” is how Vinod Murali, co-founder, and managing partner sums up the experience. “I was definitely surprised by the sheer speed of the fundraising. This is significantly higher than we had expected to raise by now,” he said. Investors or limited partners of the fund include high net worth individuals, family offices, and some institutions, all from India. Raising over Rs 1,000 crore locally this fast also indicates that domestic capital is beginning to look at the startup scene in India more seriously.
For the longest time venture, capitalists in India have been concerned that the domestic pool of capital is too shallow relative to the potential of startups and the quantum of money they raise from overseas. Alteria’s previous LPs include IndusInd Bank, Small Industries Development Bank of India, Azim Premji Foundation, and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. “Lots of people have moved from curiosity to action. They want to play in this space and this looks like an inflection point for domestic capital in India,” Murali said.
