New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- Asiana Fund, the investment platform of the Dani family office, and Taiwan-based venture capital firm JC Capital have launched a Rs 1,000 crore ($104.4 million) fund to invest in India's next generation of technology and advanced manufacturing companies.
The Asiana-JCC Advanced Manufacturing & Innovation Fund comprises a base corpus of Rs 600 crore and a Rs 400 crore greenshoe option. It will target growth-stage, IP-led companies across advanced manufacturing and robotics, semiconductors and computing, materials and sustainability, and aerospace and defence.
The fund will primarily invest in Series A and B companies. It aims to create a portfolio of 12-15 investments and will also reserve capital for follow-on rounds. The sponsors will commit more than 20% of the fund corpus.
Beyond capital, the fund will look to facilitate technology and know-how transfers, connect portfolio companies with global supply chains and strategic partners and support their international expansion.
The firms said the fund's investment pipeline includes areas such as compound semiconductors, motion control for electric vehicles and robotics, secure silicon, smart grids, robotic vision and optoelectronics, including potential collaborations between Taiwanese and Indian companies.
Asiana has invested more than Rs 700 crore across 11 private equity investments since 2017. JC Capital, which was founded in 2019, has invested more than Rs 1,000 crore across 30 companies since then, with a focus on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and clean technology.
More than 80% of JC Capital's investors are corporate LPs, providing the new fund with access to corporate technology partners and international networks across the US, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Asiana Fund was founded in 2017 by Jalaj Dani and is backed by the Dani family, co-promoters of Asian Paints. The investment platform focuses on businesses where it can provide capital alongside strategic and operational support.
JC Capital was founded by Jim Chen in 2019 and focuses on technology, semiconductors, electronics and advanced manufacturing.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.