New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- Cedar-IBSi Capital, a venture capital firm that backs companies providing financial infrastructure, said on Tuesday that it has secured Rs 100 crore ($11.4 million) in commitments from institutional investors and family offices for its maiden VC fund, and expects to wrap up fundraising with a final close early next year.
With "strong" backing from key institutional investors and over 20 family offices, the VC firm said it has also secured soft commitments worth Rs 10-15 crore.
The fund has an initial target of Rs 175 crore, with an additional greenshoe option of Rs 75 crore. Some of the fund's marquee investors include Muthoot Finance, IIFL Capital, and an undisclosed Middle Eastern royal family entity. Family office investors include Apar Industries, Varroc Engineering, the Taparia family, Dr Reddy's family office, among others.
"We will mark our final close sometime in January. Despite a challenging fundraising environment for emerging managers globally, our sector-specialist expertise and sharp B2B fintech focus have helped attract tier-I LP capital in India and internationally," said Sahil Anand, founder and managing partner of Cedar-IBSi Capital.
Cedar-IBSi, which has offices in Mumbai, New York, London, Dubai, and Giza, invests in pre-Series A and Series A rounds, typically coming in as the first institutional investor.
Its average cheque size ranges between $500,000 and $1 million, with reserves for follow-on investments. Cedar-IBSi seeks to build a portfolio of 10-15 companies, with initial capital expected to be deployed by the fifth year.
Launched by Sahil Anand in 2024, the fintech-focused fund received SEBI registration in 2023 as a Category-II vehicle. It was formed through a collaboration between management consulting firm Cedar Consulting and fintech market intelligence platform IBS Intelligence.
To date, the firm has invested in document processing company Cogniquest and incentive compensation software provider WonderLend Hubs. It plans to announce a third investment soon. The fund is also actively scouting for opportunities in the "AI-for-Financial-Services" space.
"A lot has happened in B2C (business-to-consumer) fintech in recent years, but CTOs and technology leaders at financial institutions are now ready for a similar transformation in banking infrastructure software," Anand said. "Indian B2B (business-to-business) fintech vendors, due to their geography-agnostic and non-regulatory solutions, have the opportunity to scale internationally."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.