Lighthouse Canton's maiden venture debt fund reaches first close

Global investment institution Lighthouse Canton has announced the first close of its venture debt fund, a Category – II AIF, at Rs 155.4 crores. The fund, which has a capacity of Rs 550 crores and a greenshoe option of additional Rs 550 crores, is part of Lighthouse Canton’s regional venture debt strategy. It has seen participation from onshore and offshore institutions and family offices.

The fund will provide debt capital to technology-enabled companies which are part of the Indian startup ecosystem. 

This is the second fund launched this year focused on the Indian startup ecosystem. Earlier this year, Lighthouse Canton partnered with Nueva Capital to launch its maiden venture capital fund, LC Nueva, focused on pre-series A and series A companies in India. The Fund was oversubscribed and successfully applied for an additional Rs 50 crore with the regulator.  

Lighthouse Canton claims to have over 100 experienced professionals in Singapore, Dubai, and India, and it oversees over $3 billion worth of assets under management and advisory.

Debt funding in growth and late-stage startups saw an upward trend in the past few months. Udaan and Rebel Foods raised back-to-back debt funds recently. As per data compiled by Fintrackr, growth stage companies including Dunzo, ReshaMandi, Byju’s, Reevoy, Perfios, HomeLane, Epigamia, Ather Energy, and Mobikwik have raised debt funds last year.

Earlier this month, edtech unicorn LEAD (formerly Lead School) and neobanking platform Jupiter announced their debt funding.