Mumbai-based investment firm Zodius Capital has raised $110 million for carrying out investments in internet and technology companies, reports ET Tech. The VC firm intends to invest $11-16 million in 8-10 enterprise software and consumer technology startups by the end of this year.
This funding is Zodius’ first tranche of funding following its partnership with the financial services firm Avendus Capital‘s subsidiary Alternate Asset Management to setup Zodius Capital II, to focus on late-stage and pre-IPO technology companies, in April last year. Zodius Capital mentions it will raise the second tranche of funding by the end of this year or early next year.
Previously, Zodius had said it would look to invest around $400-$500 million in India-centric digital businesses and SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud) based business services companies under Zodius Capital II, an amount it would raise from investors in three tranches of $100-$150 million each. For digital business investments, Zodius Capital II would target Internet and mobile companies in areas like media, commerce and consumer services while for business services investments, it would look at SMAC-driven IT or BPO opportunities.
The Zodius Capital II is a follow-up to the investment firm’s previous fund Zodius Capital I which was launched in 2011 and focused only on early-stage investments and build-outs in the technology sector. Some of its portfolio companies include Only Much Louder (niche music and events business), Group FMG (a global marketing solutions company), ZyFin (Financial information & content company, earlier known as BluFin), BookAdda (online book store), Antuit (Big Data services company) and Enki Professional (which launched the music school True School of Music in Mumbai) among others.
Recent investments by Zodius:
– In January this year, big data company Antuit holdings raised $56 million from investment bank Goldman Sachs and existing investor Zodius Capital.
– In September last year, Bangalore-based online grocery retailer BigBasket raised Rs 200 crore investment in a round led by Helion Ventures and Zodius Capital and participation from existing investors Ascent Capital and LionRock Capital
– The same month Culture Machine, a digital video company founded by former Disney-UTV exec Sameer Pitalwalla and former YouTube exec Venkat Prasad, raised a Series A round of funding led by Zodius Capital.
Image source: Zodius Capital
