Java Capital, a SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) that focuses on seed-stage companies, has announced opening its first fund, which has a corpus of Rs 75 crore and a greenshoe option of Rs 25 crore.
The fund completed its first close at Rs 30 crore and plans to complete its final close over the next six months. The recently established fund has already begun funding pre-seed to pre-Series A startups, and it plans to build a portfolio of 15 to 20 such startups with an average first check size of Rs 2 crore. For follow-on investments into portfolio firms with the best track records, the fund will set aside 50% of its total assets.
The fund, which has already invested in four companies, is looking at startups in the deep tech, SaaS, enterprise tech, fintech, and climate and sustainability verticals that are looking to raise pre-seed to pre-Series A funding.
Vinod Shankar, Co-founder and Partner of Java Capital, said, “We are possibly one of the only funds with strong diversity with three full-time partners and are led by deep conviction in the companies we invest in. We are not afraid to lead rounds ourselves at this stage, which is again led by our deep conviction and contrarian to most other funds in this market. We are willing to take outlier risks such as Agnikul, a company making India’s first 3D printed semi-cryo rocket engines, or EPlane, which is building electric flying taxis.”
The company has previously invested in 23 startups, including Agnikul, KukuFM, BharatX, Better Opinions, Yellow Metal, The Eplane Company, Kindlife, Legistify, etc.
In 2020, professional venture capitalists and startup ecosystem enablers Bhargavi V, Vinod Shankar, and Karteek Pulapaka launched Java Capital. 40% of these companies have used it to lead rounds. The portfolio as a whole raised additional funding by over 50%.
After receiving investments from Java, four companies were chosen for the Y-Combinator accelerator. Java’s entire portfolio is currently valued at $385 million.
Bhargavi V, Co-founder and Partner of Java Capital, says, “We are super excited to announce the launch of our fund, and we are strong believers in the long-term growth story for India. We are in the venture space for the next few decades and would like to grow Java Capital as the first port of call for founders looking to start companies.”
Karteek Pulapaka, Co-founder and Partner of Java Capital, said, “India is in the midst of a once-in-a-century transformation, and this will be underscored by cutting-edge startups. We have a strong record of backing and nurturing visionary founders developing disruptive business models and technology.”
