Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF), a Jaipur-based early/mid-stage VC firm, is creating a $7.6 Million (Rs. 50 crore) corpus to invest in early-stage startups. It will invest average Rs. 50 lakh in about 100 start-ups in the coming three to four years, providing a much needed boost to one of North India’s fastest growing startup ecosystems.
RVCF says, that it has already started the process of raising funds for investment. As per the firm, they have received substantial commitment for the same. If everything goes as per their planning, they will start investing from the third-quarter of this year.
Girish Gupta, CEO of the fund, said,
We are looking for opportunities, especially in disruptive ideas and technologies. This would include mobile technology, crowd sourcing, niche ideas in e-commerce, asset light healthcare, agri-food processing, etc. We will allocate Rs. 50 crore for this and each investment will have size of Rs. 50 lakh.
We are creating pool of active mentors to further supports start-ups. We are also raising larger pool of VC funding to support successful start-ups for next stage of funding.
The fund is looking to support about 30 to 35 new start-ups every year. Along with that, they will also work closely with already established incubators, accelerators, and angel groups. It also helped set up a startup accelerator named Startup Oasis in collaboration with CIIE, Ahmedabad.
RVCF manages two SEBI registered domestic venture capital funds – RVCF Fund I & SME Tech Fund – RVCF Trust II supported by 15 investors including Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) as lead investors.
It has been operational since 2012 and aims to selectively invest in companies operating in high growth sectors and create value for all stakeholders. The Fund’s investment in companies is through the route of equity, quasi-equity and debt instruments.
RVCF has had a history of investment in start-ups like NexTenders, HomeStore, Liqvid e-learning, TechAxes and more established brands like Rajasthan Patrika, Synergistic Financial Networks, Aujas Networks, etc.
This fund though, could come out as a big boon for startups in Jaipur and Rajasthan overall, considering that capital isn’t as easily available to early-stage ideas in this part of the country, as compared to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai or any other thriving startup ecosystem within the country.
Nevertheless, Jaipur has witnesses some big ticket deals of its own. RazorPay for example, a startup working in the cashless payments domain, secured a seat at the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program. Similarly ed-tech startup CultureAlley grabbed a $6.5 Million Series A round from Tiger global and others.
