Anicut Capital closes 2nd debt fund at Rs 875 cr, plans to invest in growth-stage startups

Venture debt firm Anicut Capital has marked the final close of its second debt fund at Rs 875 crore ($118 million).

Anicut secured SEBI approval for its second debt fund corpus of Rs 700 crore, and a greenshoe option to raise an additional Rs 300 crore.

Grand Anicut Fund - 2 (alternative investment funds) saw massive interest for its subscription with successful investments across 12-plus early-stage startups. The fund's average deal size is Rs 15-100 crore.

According to the investment firm, it will invest in nearly 30 early and growth-stage companies across sectors such as consumer brands, technology, food and beverage (F&B), fintech, among others, under categories of acquisition financing, promoter/buyback financing, growth capital and capital restructuring.

Ashvin Chadha, co-founder & managing partner, Anicut Capital, said, “In the next two quarters, the 2.0 version of Grand Anicut Fund will invest in diverse upcoming entities across various sectors like technology, consumer goods, financial services, education, healthcare and other.”

The companies that Anicut has lent to from the second fund include Wow Momos, ASG Eye Care Hospital, Akna Medical (acquired by Pharmeasy), B9 Beverages (Bira), Azure Hospitality, and Wingreens, of which BSB and Wingreens have already seen successful exits.

The Grand Anicut Fund 1, which hit its final close in 2018, made investments worth Rs 700 crore in companies like Milky Mist, Sugar Cosmetics, Lendingkart, B9 Beverages, Biryani Blues, and Shield Healthcare, among others.

Both the debt funds together have an asset under management of nearly Rs 1,300 crore. The company intends to launch diversified funds in the future, including equity funds, financial institution based debt products and accelerator programs.

Anicut’s fundraising is a clear signal of domestic investors' continued interest in venture debt firms. Others like Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital, Stride and Innoven Capital have also recently raised large pools of capital to back Indian startups.