Cedar Hill Capital Secures SIDBI Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0 Commitment to Back AI‑First Enterprise FinTech

Cedar Hill Capital today announced that it has received a commitment from the Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0, managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the country’s apex development finance institution for the micro, small and medium enterprise sector. The commitment adds a further institutional investor to the fund’s strong LP base, which includes Muthoot Finance, Hinduja Leyland Finance, IIFL, and Private Department H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan.

Established by the Government of India, the Fund of Funds for Startups programme channels capital through SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds to support early-stage companies across the country.

Cedar Hill Capital invests at the pre-Series A stage in companies building AI-first enterprise technology for Financial Services, spanning payments, lending, fraud, regtech, insurtech and 10+ other areas. The fund backs technology platform businesses selling into banks, NBFCs, insurers and capital markets institutions — a segment long overdue for disruption and change from traditional spaghetti banking technology systems.

The fund has made 3 investments to date, including Sign3, an AI-native fraud intelligence and risk management platform whose device intelligence and behavioural biometrics stack is now used by 20+ banks, FinTechs and marketplaces to detect mule accounts and surface hidden fraud patterns in real time. The fund is actively deploying capital and plans to make an additional 5 investments this calendar year, with 4 investments already identified.

India’s enterprise FinTech sector has matured well beyond consumer-facing applications, with domestic financial institutions now actively procuring AI-led infrastructure for risk, compliance, onboarding and decisioning. Capital at the pre-Series A stage, however, remains concentrated in consumer and generalist strategies, leaving a persistent gap for companies whose earliest customers are regulated institutions. Domestic institutional participation of this kind is intended to deepen the pool of capital available to that segment.

“Enterprise FinTech at the pre-Series A stage is under-served precisely because it is difficult to underwrite — the customers are regulated institutions, the sales cycles are long, and the diligence requires genuine sector depth,” said Sahil Anand, Managing Partner at Cedar Hill Capital. “SIDBI’s commitment is a strong endorsement of our focus and platform; one that has spent decades inside this industry working with global banks and technology players.”

The commitment will support Cedar Hill Capital’s continued deployment into AI-first enterprise technology companies serving the Financial Services industry, alongside the 70+ year strong ecosystem provided by the wider Cedar global platform.

About Cedar Hill Capital: Cedar Hill Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund backing founders building AI-first enterprise technology for the financial services industry.

The fund’s investment thesis is anchored in a deep legacy in financial-services technology research and consulting, drawing on a platform that represents over 70 years of global experience in the sector.

The fund’s GP and Operating Partners are also the creators of the region’s only Financial Services Technology Lab, which since 2017 has supported and accelerated 60+ enterprise technology companies, helping them scale products, build partnerships with financial institutions, and expand internationally.

Cedar Hill Capital operates as an independently structured venture fund, following a traditional LP–GP model, and is backed by leading institutional investors and family offices across the region.