ETech-focused Arkam Ventures has launched its second venture capital fund of $180 million.
According to a senior fund official, the firm, which made investments in companies including Jar, Kreditbee, Jai-Kisan, Jumbotail, and Signzy from its first fund, will plan to make early-stage bets in around 20 companies from the second fund that it expects to raise by the end of the year.
Arkam Ventures will look at Series A to Series B stage investments in various industries, including SaaS, mobility, financial services, skilling, food, agriculture, and healthcare.
“We will additionally focus on manufacturing tech and EVs as we believe that the growth in these sectors in recent years has thrown open a lot of investment opportunities,” said Bala Srinivasa, co-founder of Arkam Ventures.
The company will probably use its existing limited partners, including family offices and global institutional investors, for the second fund. According to Srinivasa, some investors include British International Investment (BII), SIDBI, Evolvence, Quilvest, US Institutional Investors, and large family offices. According to Srinivasa, 60% of the capital is expected from global investors, with the remaining 40% coming from DIIs.
Arkam, founded in 2020 by venture capitalists Rahul Chandra and Bala Srinivasa, focuses on middle-India opportunities by backing businesses that develop tech-driven solutions for the country’s 400 million Indians.
“As a team with 20 years of venture investing experience in India, we believe that the defining themes for the next decade will be the untapped Middle India market, rapid scale, and capital efficiency,” said Rahul Chandra, Managing Director at Arkam, in a statement.
He added, “Arkam’s “foundation-first” approach helps portfolio companies create sustainable businesses with the right governance, organizational design, and go-to-market strategies.”
These Middle India start-ups are driven by India’s digital rails (UPI, eKYC, Aadhar) and the massive adoption of digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic to see a generational opportunity to rethink how essential products and services are delivered more effectively, more comprehensively, and cheaper using digital platforms. It had raised $110 million in its first fund.
