Chennai's Anicut Capital's new Rs 175 crore fund to back 20 startups

CHENNAI: Anicut Capital, an alternative asset management company managing multiple AIFs across both debt and equity strategies, on Wednesday announced the launch of its Grand Anicut Seed Fund (GASF) with a target corpus of Rs 175 Crore and a greenshoe option of Rs 75 crore.

This is the Chennai-based Anicut’s second fund for early-stage investments. This fund is set to focus on pre-e to series A investments across deep-tech, enterprise-tech, consumer and financial services start-ups.

With GASF, Anicut plans to invest in 20+ start-ups with ticket sizes in the range of Rs 5 to 8 crore. The fund is targeting a first close soon, with a target LP mix of institutional investors, HNIs, domestic and foreign family offices.

The fund has started deploying and closed three deals, all being led by Anicut, well distributed across themes and stages and actively building the prospects for deployment.

Anicut has been investing in early stage equity since 2021 through Grand Anicut Angel Fund (GAAF), which has made 68 investments to date ranging from pre-seed to pre-series A across deep-tech, enterprise tech, consumer and financial services start-ups.

These startups have gone on to raise follow-on capital to the tune of over Rs 6,000 crore, with 10x portfolio revenue growth since first check. Notable portfolio companies under GAAF include Agnikul Cosmos, GIVA, CapGrid, InspeCity, Leumas, Neeman's, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Snapmint, Salty, GRIP, Galaxeye, E-plane and E-trnl.

Ajay Anand, partner, Anicut Capital, said, “with our second fund, we aim to build on this proven strategy by partnering with exceptional founders in their 0-to-1 journey, providing both capital and strategic support as they create next-generation categories and build enduring, market-leading businesses.”