New Delhi, Aug. 6 -- Mumbai-based asset manager Piper Serica has marked the first close of a venture capital fund that it launched in May this year to expand its existing early-stage investing strategy into growth-stage bets.

The firm, which forayed into private market investing with its Piper Serica Angel Fund in 2022, has collected Rs 300 crore-more than a third of its target corpus- for the Category-II alternative investment fund from its limited partners. The investor is aiming to raise a corpus of Rs 600 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore for the Bharat Tech Fund, taking its total potential size to Rs 800 crore (about $83 million).

Piper Serica said it marked the first close within 45 days of its launch, with nearly 50% of commitments coming from existing investors in its first fund.

The Bharat Tech Fund will invest in Series A and Series B stages in startups across sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, spacetech, defence technology, biosciences, fintech infrastructure, artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced electronics.

"The response to the Bharat Tech Fund shows that investors are looking at deeptech as a long-term opportunity, backed by the strong performance we've delivered through Fund I," said Ajay Modi, director, Piper Serica.

"We believe India's next generation of global companies will come from founders who are solving complex problems using R&D and science. Sectors such as semiconductors, defence, spacetech, robotics, biosciences and advanced manufacturing have the potential to create long-term value for both investors and the country," he added.

The fund will have an average ticket size of Rs 25-50 crore. It will target a gross internal rate of return of around 30% over an average holding period of six years. The fund was initially targeting a final close by December, which it now expects to do ahead of schedule given the interest, the firm said.

Piper Serica began investing in startups in 2022 through its angel fund, with a ticket size of up to Rs 10 crore. Since then, the firm has backed 35 startups through its angel fund focused on deeptech sectors. The company said it has recorded two exits so far, including a partial exit from Alt Mobility with a multiple of around 10.2x, while 14 portfolio companies have gone on to raise institutional follow-on rounds. These include names such as Pantherun, Rupeeflo, OTPless, Yaanendriya, Vobiz and Six Sense Mobility.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.