BackIndia Internet Group plans to raise $15 million
The early-stage investor plans to raise its second investment fund this year to invest in start-ups from mobile payments providers to communication apps
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Bengaluru: Early-stage investor India Internet Group (IIG) is planning to raise its second investment fund of about $15 million later this year to invest in mobile payments providers, mobile marketplaces and communication apps.
Investor interest in Indian technology and e-commerce start-ups has revived over the past year, and early-stage investors such as Kae Capital and Blume Ventures as well as venture capital firms such as Kalaari Capital and Accel Partners are in the process of raising new investment funds.
Last year, IDG Ventures India, Orios Venture, Lightbox Ventures and Sequoia Capital all raised new funds, primarily for investing in start-ups.
“India is currently one of the hottest start-up destinations and this is the right time to invest though competition among investors has increased," said Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn, which provides data on start-ups to VC and PE firms.
IIG, which started out in 2011, has invested in start-ups such as Frrole, Snaplion, Inventure and Saavn. The firm is now looking to increase the number of deals this year to eight from four last year, founding partner and managing director Anirudh Suri said.
“One of our partners is also involved in another fund that looks at mobile-only investments. So we have deep insight into how the mobile has worked in the US. We are constantly looking at which models can work in India. Within mobile we’re interested in several sub-sectors such as utility apps, on-demand marketplaces, communication apps and app developer tools. We’re also looking at mobile payments and wallets, a space which is picking up very rapidly," Suri said.
IIG typically puts up $50,000-$300,000 into start-ups. Given the increase in investment activity as well as the number of new start-ups, the firm’s deal size is likely to increase.
“We want to do bigger deals going forward and the new fund will allow us to do that. There’s a need in angel investing or pre-series A (the second round of fund raising by a start-up) for slightly larger investment amounts that is currently being taken up by VC (venture capital) firms. We can start doing that from our new fund which will be launched in the second half of the year," Suri said.
He said IIG will also put up money in its existing investments Frrole, Snaplion and Findable this year when these start-ups raise their next round of funds.
Apart from investing in start-ups, IIG also incubates and runs some of their portfolio companies.
Suri leads Findable, a location-based Internet service that provides information on apparel, electronics and other stores.
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