New Delhi, May 20 -- Mumbai-based asset manager Piper Serica has launched a venture capital fund targeting a corpus of Rs 600 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore, taking its total potential size to Rs 800 crore (about $83 million).
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 and fintech infrastructure.
Piper Serica said the new fund, registered as a Category-II alternative investment fund with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, expands its existing early-stage venture capital strategy into growth-stage investments.
Since 2022, the firm has backed 35 startups through its Category I AIF 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.
Under the new fund, Piper Serica plans to invest between Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 crore in each startup. It will target a gross internal rate of return of around 30% over an average holding period of six years.
"India's most important shift is not in consumption - it is in creation. For the first time, Indian founders are building IP-led, engineering-first businesses that are globally competitive, not just domestically relevant," said Ajay Modi, director at Piper Serica.
"We invest in founders who demonstrate three things: the technical depth to build something genuinely defensible, the leadership capacity to build an organisation around it, and the commercial discipline to scale it with unit economics that hold," he added.
The firm said its investment process combines AI-based screening through its proprietary platform Yoda.ai with diligence through partnerships and engagements with institutions such as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, as well as government platforms including the government's Innovation for Defence Excellence initiative, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
Piper Serica began investing in startups in 2022 through its Category I AIF, with a ticket size of up to Rs 10 crore. Its portfolio companies include Alt Mobility, Zippee, Driffle, Oditly, Unorg, Castler, Floworks, Kivi, Cleartrust, Freed, OTPless, and Six Sense Smart Mobility.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.