Java Capital, which invests in an idea to prototype stage and Pre-Product Market Fit stage has launched its first alternative investment fund (AIF) which will have a corpus of INR 75 Cr ($9 Mn). The fund will also have a green shoe option of INR 25 Cr.
Java Capital in its statement stated that the fund has accomplished its first closure at INR 30 Cr and anticipates a final closure in the next six months.
The VC fund will have an average ticket size of INR 2 Cr and will invest in 15-20 pre-seed, seed and pre-series A startups operating in deeptech, SaaS, enterprisetech, fintech, and climate and sustainability sectors. Furthermore, the fund will earmark 50% of the fund’s capital for making follow-on investments into top-performing portfolio startups.
The VC firm has already started investing in startups from the fund, and has backed 4 startups uptill now.
Founded in 2020 by venture capitalists Bhargavi V, Vinod Shankar and Karteek Pulapaka, Java Capital has backed 23 startups so far. Its portfolio includes Agnikul, KukuFM, BharatX, Better Opinions, Yellow Metal, The Eplane Company, Kindlife and Legistify, among others.
Java Capital upbeat about emerging tech startups
“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. All three of us have collectively spent over 25 plus years investing in startups…,” Vinod Shankar, cofounder and partner at Java Capital, said.
The VC firm said that it has led the funding round for 40% of its portfolio startups and over 50% of its portfolio companies have raised follow-on investments.
“We are strong believers in the growth story for India, we work with our ecosystem and partners in the true spirit of long term games with long term people (which) leads to significant outcomes for the society at large. We are in the venture space for the next couple of decades and would like to grow Java Capital,” Bhargavi V, cofounder and partner at Java Capital, said.
Four of Java’s portfolio startups have made it to Y-Combinator’s accelerator program after getting investments from it, the firm said, adding that its portfolio companies are together valued at $385 Mn.
