Science and technology-focused venture capital firm Inflexor Ventures has announced the first close of ₹400 crore for Fund III, with a target size of ₹1,250 crore.
The fund is anchored by the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund, HDFC Asset Management Co. (HDFC AMC) and HDFC AMC Select AIF FoF (HDFC FoF), as well as international institutions.
With the first close in place, the fund has begun deploying capital into a set of high-conviction opportunities and expects to announce its first investments in the coming weeks.
The first close comes as India's venture capital market recalibrates towards capital-intensive, IP-driven sectors over pure consumer internet plays, with deep-tech and science-led startups increasingly demonstrating global scalability.
Several funds have been actively raising new investment vehicles. These include Elevation Capital, Fundamentum, Transition VC and Exfinity Venture Partners, who have all launched funds since the beginning of this year.
IP-driven opportunities
“We're seeing a growing pipeline of globally ambitious companies built on differentiated science, engineering and technology, creating a compelling opportunity to partner with founders earlier in their scaling journey,” said Venkat Vallabhaneni, founder and managing director of Inflexor Ventures, in a statement. “Fund III reflects our conviction in this opportunity and our commitment to being long-term partners to exceptional founders.”
Investing primarily at the pre-Series A and Series A stages, Inflexor writes cheques of ₹15-45 crore. Fund III will consist of a portfolio of 22-25 companies. While the firm will stay largely agnostic, it will be scouting for more Series A opportunities as it looks for companies that demonstrate early product-market fit and global scalability.
Vallabhaneni, alongside Jatin Desai and Pratip Mazumdar, launched the firm with Fund I back in 2016. Its second ₹350 crore fund was launched in 2021. Notably, the firm was an early investor in Bellatrix, before the space sector was opened up to the private sector.
According to its website, the firm's assets under management are $120 million (around ₹1,300 crore), and so far, it has managed 14 exits.