Mumbai-based venture capital firm Piper Serica has raised Rs 300 crore in the first close for its Rs 800 crore Bharat Tech Fund.
The firm said nearly half of the money came from investors in its first fund, who have chosen to invest again.
The Category II alternative investment fund (AIF) will invest Rs 20-50 crore in startups working in areas such as semiconductors, defence, spacetech, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biosciences, fintech infrastructure and advanced electronics.
The first close comes at a time when investor interest in deeptech startups is growing. The firm said it raised its first close within 45 days of fund launch.
Ajay Modi, Director, Piper Serica, said, “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.” He added that India's next generation of global companies will come from founders who are solving complex problems using R&D and science.
Piper Serica, in a statement, said it is seeing more deeptech startups with growing revenue and large customer orders, showing that many companies are now moving beyond the early stages of building products.
The firm had planned to complete fundraising by December but now expects to finish earlier because of strong investor interest.
Piper Serica started investing in deeptech startups in 2022. Its first fund has invested in various startups, including Alt Mobility, Pantherun, Rupeeflo, OTPless, Yaanendriya, Vobiz and Six Sense Mobility.
“Our objective is to support entrepreneurs who are building strong intellectual property and globally competitive businesses from India. We believe India has the talent, policy support and market opportunity to become a global deeptech leader,” Modi said.
