IAN Group marks final close of $100 Mn Alpha Fund

Early stage investment platform IAN Group has completed the final close of its second venture capital vehicle, the IAN Alpha Fund, with a corpus of $100 million.

The fund aims to back early-stage, tech-enabled startups addressing major industry and societal challenges. Its investment focus spans sectors such as artificial intelligence, space tech, semiconductors, climate, healthcare, and other frontier domains. 

The Alpha Fund saw backing from a mix of institutional and government-linked investors, including funds like the Self-Reliant India Fund, SIDBI Fund of Funds for Startups, ACE Fund, and Odisha Startup Growth Fund, along with insurance and family-office investors.

According to IAN, several of its initial portfolio companies 10 to 12 so far are led by first-generation founders based in tier-II and tier-III cities. 

IAN enables entrepreneurs to raise from Rs 50 lakhs to Rs 50 crore on a single platform, along with mentoring and global market access. The Group’s investment thesis has been to invest in startups in emerging sectors led by exceptional founders solving real problems or building for India’s strategic imperatives, while giving exceptional investor returns. Over the last 19 years it claims to have consistently returned capital with multiples in high double digits.

The fund follows IAN’s broader vision of supporting startup growth across geographies and sectors, with a stated aim to help founders in smaller cities get the same opportunities as those in major urban centres.

In August this year, IAN Group had also appointed Chintan Thakkar as Group CEO of IAN Group.