StartupXseed raises Rs 243 Cr in Fund II to back early-stage startups

Early-stage venture capital firm StartupXseed Ventures has raised Rs 243 crore ($30.4 Mn) in its second fund. The fund II has been oversubscribed by 20% as compared to its initial target.

The fund has been backed by ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNIs), family offices, entrepreneurs and corporates across India, Singapore, Oman, Japan, US and others.

According to StartupXseed, fund two will focus on enterprise SaaS and deep tech verticals. It will invest anywhere between Rs 5 crore and Rs 12 crore in the first phase and fund II eyes to add 8 to 10 more disruptive startups in the next 12 months.

The new fund has already invested in startups including SawoLabs, Zenduty, Jobiak, Smartshiphub, Humalect and others. StartupXseed primarily invests in seed to pre-Series A startups and also helps them in product development, strategies, expansion, hiring et al.StartupXseed’s flagship bet DarwinBox (from fund I), which became a unicorn early this year, has grown 100 times since its investment.

StartupXseed joins the list of several early-stage investment firms which have managed to mop up new funds in 2012. In August, Merak Ventures launched a new fund to back early-stage startups with a target corpus of $100 million while Ankur Capital closed Rs 330 crore in its second fund in March.

Close to 90 startup investment firms such as venture capitalists, private equity, micro VC, angel investment and debt firms have launched or are in the final leg to announce their new fund as of July 25, 2022, according to data compiled by Fintrackr. This list includes 63 VC, eight PE and four debt firms.