Speciale Invest, a venture capital firm based in India, has launched an INR 200 Cr growth fund to invest in its portfolio startups. The new fund, called Speciale Invest Growth Fund I, will have a green shoe option of up to INR 100 Cr and will be used to invest in high-potential technology startups working in areas such as spacetech, green hydrogen, robotics, green mobility, quantumtech, and AI-led platforms. The firm plans to close the fund in the next three to four months and has already seen participation from high-net-worth individuals, ultra HNIs, and other family offices.
Speciale Invest is an early stage-focused VC firm that largely invests in startups from emerging areas such as deeptech, AI-led SaaS, robotics, micro-electronics, and spacetech. It seems that despite the funding winter and corporate governance issues in the Indian startup ecosystem, India-focused funds are still able to raise significant amounts of capital. V3 Ventures and pi Ventures are two such examples. V3 Ventures, a newly launched early-stage VC fund, plans to invest nearly INR 900 Cr in startups from India, America, and Europe. pi Ventures, on the other hand, recently secured INR 22 Cr from Colruyt Group India for its INR 675 Cr second fund.
The venture capital industry in India has been impacted by a variety of macroeconomic factors, such as global economic conditions, market volatility, and high inflation, which have caused many investors to be more cautious when making investment decisions. In addition, there have been concerns around corporate governance and transparency in the Indian startup ecosystem, leading to a tightening of purse strings by investors. However, despite these challenges, India-focused funds have continued to raise significant amounts of capital, indicating that there is still confidence in the long-term potential of the Indian startup ecosystem.