New Delhi, July 29 -- Exposition Ventures, a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm, is considering launching an India-focused fund that would invest in local startups, a person aware of the matter told VCCircle.
The firm, which invests in B2B hardware and software companies with a focus on foundational technologies, advanced manufacturing and industrial infrastructure, has not taken any formal steps to set up an India-dedicated vehicle but plans for one are in the works, the person said, asking not to be named.
The move comes even as the VC firm is simultaneously preparing a second US-based fund that will continue backing the kind of companies its debut vehicle has invested in. To raise capital for the second US fund, Exposition Ventures is scouting for Indian limited partners, including family offices, the person said.
The proposed India fund could aim to raise around Rs 300 crore (around $31.3 million at current exchange rates), the person said, making it smaller than both the firm's first US fund, which has a targeted close of $50 million, and its upcoming second fund, which is expected to be even larger.
The India vehicle is expected to draw largely on domestic capital, he said.
Interest from US-focused venture capital firms in raising India-dedicated capital has grown in recent years, as global fund managers look to tap domestic family offices and institutional investors seeking exposure to early-stage technology and industrial startups, even as they continue to court international limited partners for their core US strategies.
Exposition Ventures was founded in 2021 by Karen Kerr and is headquartered in Chicago. The firm describes itself as a lead investor that takes a hands-on approach, drawing on its operating and investing experience as well as an industry partner network to help portfolio companies scale. Its name is a reference to the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, which it cites as an inspiration given the event's association with the Second Industrial Revolution.
The firm's debut fund invested in companies working across industrial transformation, enterprise software, hardware, robotics and 3D printing, with a broader thesis that also extends to machine vision, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, sensors and blockchain. Data from Tracxn shows Exposition Ventures has made at least 19 investments to date, largely at the seed and Series A stages, spanning enterprise applications, deep tech, and industrial goods and manufacturing. Standard Industries has emerged as one of its more frequent co-investors.
Kerr, who founded the firm and serves as its managing director, has spent close to two and a half decades in technology investing. Before starting Exposition Ventures, she was executive managing director at GE Ventures, where she led investments in advanced manufacturing, supply chain technology, logistics and enterprise software. Earlier in her career, she held roles as managing director at ARCH Venture Partners, director at Intellectual Ventures, and senior director of new ventures and alliances at the University of Southern California's Stevens Center for Innovation, in addition to an early stint at Patricof & Co. She currently sits on the boards of Kauffman Fellows, mHub, ORAU, the Clean Energy Trust and Bryn Mawr College, and advises the University of Chicago on its Physical Sciences Division and Institute of Molecular Engineering committees.
According to its website, Exposition Ventures has backed more than a dozen US-based companies. Its portfolio includes Xaba, an industrial-robotics artificial intelligence startup; memQ, a Chicago-based quantum technology company building photonic integrated circuits; HighByte, an industrial DataOps software provider; and Macrofab, a Houston-based cloud manufacturing platform for electronics production. Other portfolio companies include Steadi, Momentum Optics, C-Motive Technologies and Oloid Technologies, a workforce identity and access-management startup. Azul and Amesa also feature among its disclosed investments.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.