VC Firm Aavishkaar to Raise $300 Mn for South Asia

Mumbai-based venture capital & private equity firm Aavishkaar Group, is planning to raise $300 million for its South Asia-focused fund early next year to invest across sector - financial services, agriculture, energy and health, reported LiveMint, in its interaction with one of the firm's senior executives.

The fund, which is Aavishkaar’s eighth fund, is a follow up to its $75 million Frontier Fund focused on South and South-East Asia. The fund is expected to get its first close by end 2019.

Citing Vineet Rai (in pic above), Managing partner and Chief Executive of Aavishkaar Venture Management Services, the report said that the fund raised will be used to invest in smaller markets in South Asia, namely Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos among others, and larger markets like India and China will consciously be avoided in order tap the unutilized potential of smaller markets.

Aavishkar is however raising two separate funds specifically for India and Africa. It currently raising $200 million Aavishkaar Bharat fund and $150 million Africa fund, which will be Aavishkar's its first foray into the African market

Vineet Rai further said, “I see Indonesia as the next hub of impact investing. Like India, it has a high density of population and business models are very scalable. It also has a cultural connect and similarities with an evolving private equity/venture capital system."

The VC firm plans to raise the funds from Asian development finance institutions as well as from sovereign investors in Singapore, Japan, Australia and the UK.

About Aavishkaar's Bharat Fund, it is touted as the largest India-focused impact fund being raised by a domestic fund manager. While the Africa fund to hit a first close of $60-80 million by April next year. The Bharat fund, which had already achieved a first close of $95 million in November last year, is also expected to hit its final close around April 2019.

Aavishkaar Bharat Fund, which has recently invested ₹40 crore in GoBOLT, a Gurgaon-based logistic tech startup, is backed by institutional investors such as the UK’s development finance institution CDC, Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and family offices such as Sunil Munjal of Hero Enterprise, said Rai.

Besides India, Aavishkar had invested in Sri Lanka-based Grasshoppers, a logistics solutions provider, in June last year, through its Aavishkaar Frontier Fund.

In May 2016, Aavishkaar made its inroads in Bangladesh with an investment of $2 million in CloudWell, a payment systems company that provides agent-based last mile payment solutions to a host of service providers such as telecom operators, mobile financial services players and other billers under the brand name ‘PayWell’.

[Top Featured Image - BWdisrupt.businessworld.in]

Gurgaon-based Logistics Tech Firm GoBolt Raises ₹40 Cr from Aavishkaar

Gurgaon-based GoBOLT, a tech-logistics company operating in line haul & short haul trucking, has secured funding of ₹40 crore from Aavishkaar Bharat Fund of Impact investing-focused venture management firm, Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, reported BusinessLine.

GoBOLT will use the freshly raised capital for adding trucks owned by small driver-owners as well as in expanding its trucking operations to the East and North-East, apart from consolidating its presence in the West, North and South. The startup will also use funds to increase its corporate team size by 2.5 times and increase the drivers on its rolls by three times over the next two years.

Founded in 2015, by Naitik Baghla, Parag Aggarwal and Sumit Sharma, GoBOLT provides smart logistics solutions to companies by harnessing data analytics and IoT. Its logistics platform provides scalable processes and digitization including e-marketplace, SaaS-based Fleet Management System and Integrated multi channel customer interaction, among others.

The startup last raised an undisclosed amount in debt funding from BlackSoil, in November last year. Prior to which, it has raised about $850,000 in Pre-Series A round of funding led by startup incubator MCube8, a division of financial advisory firm MCube Capital.

“We have a corporate team of about 40, and over 50 drivers on our rolls. Over the next two years, we aim to have a corporate team of 100, and three times the number of drivers,” Sumit Sharma told BusinessLine. “We are targeting very small vendors now, and get smaller truck owners and/or drivers, as they are the ones who are at the helm of affairs on the roads," he addeed.

GoBOLT counts Amazon, Flipkart and Ecom Express as its customers and has exclusive rights for running trucks on several routes of Ecom Express and some for Flipkart.

The firm already counts as its customers and has exclusive rights for running trucks on several routes of Ecom Express and some for Flipkart.

Mumbai-based investment firm, Aavishkaar-Intellecap, which is focussed on Asia and Africa, manages assets of over $650 million, according to the company’s website. Last November, in its first close of Bharat fund, Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group raised $25 Million from Triodos Investment Management and Shell Foundation.

In 2015, Delhi-based Connect India, an e-commerce logistics firm, has raised Rs 32 crore from Aavishkaar Venture Management Services.

Founded in 2001, by Vineet Rai, Aavishkaar Venture Capital provides private equity and microfinance solutions for early stage startups.

Gurgaon-based Logistics Tech Firm GoBolt Raises ₹40 Cr from Aavishkaar

Gurgaon-based GoBOLT, a tech-logistics company operating in line haul & short haul trucking, has secured funding of ₹40 crore from Aavishkaar Bharat Fund of Impact investing-focused venture management firm, Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, reported BusinessLine.

GoBOLT will use the freshly raised capital for adding trucks owned by small driver-owners as well as in expanding its trucking operations to the East and North-East, apart from consolidating its presence in the West, North and South. The startup will also use funds to increase its corporate team size by 2.5 times and increase the drivers on its rolls by three times over the next two years.

Founded in 2015, by Naitik Baghla, Parag Aggarwal and Sumit Sharma, GoBOLT provides smart logistics solutions to companies by harnessing data analytics and IoT. Its logistics platform provides scalable processes and digitization including e-marketplace, SaaS-based Fleet Management System and Integrated multi channel customer interaction, among others.

The startup last raised an undisclosed amount in debt funding from BlackSoil, in November last year. Prior to which, it has raised about $850,000 in Pre-Series A round of funding led by startup incubator MCube8, a division of financial advisory firm MCube Capital.

“We have a corporate team of about 40, and over 50 drivers on our rolls. Over the next two years, we aim to have a corporate team of 100, and three times the number of drivers,” Sumit Sharma told BusinessLine. “We are targeting very small vendors now, and get smaller truck owners and/or drivers, as they are the ones who are at the helm of affairs on the roads," he addeed.

GoBOLT counts Amazon, Flipkart and Ecom Express as its customers and has exclusive rights for running trucks on several routes of Ecom Express and some for Flipkart.

The firm already counts as its customers and has exclusive rights for running trucks on several routes of Ecom Express and some for Flipkart.

Mumbai-based investment firm, Aavishkaar-Intellecap, which is focussed on Asia and Africa, manages assets of over $650 million, according to the company’s website. Last November, in its first close of Bharat fund, Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group raised $25 Million from Triodos Investment Management and Shell Foundation.

In 2015, Delhi-based Connect India, an e-commerce logistics firm, has raised Rs 32 crore from Aavishkaar Venture Management Services.

Founded in 2001, by Vineet Rai, Aavishkaar Venture Capital provides private equity and microfinance solutions for early stage startups.

Hero Enterprise Invests Rs 100 Cr in Aavishkaar Bharat Fund

Leading industrialist, thought leader and Chairman of Hero Enterprise, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal announced an investment of Rs 100 crores into Aavishkaar’s new fund, the Aavishkaar Bharat Fund. The investment reflects Mr Munjal’s commitment to address the key challenges faced by the country today in terms of employment, education & skills, environment, healthcare and financial inclusion. This is also his endorsement of Aavishkaar’s entrepreneurship-based approach in tackling these issues with sustainable solutions.

Explaining the rationale for the investment, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprises said: “At this stage in India’s evolution, it is clear that for the entire country to develop, rural areas and underprivileged citizens must become part of the economic miracle, not through charity, but through real opportunities. Currently, most of India’s development has taken place in urban areas and in medium and large enterprises. So it is heartening that a number of small and brave entrepreneurs are getting into projects aimed at the Indian heartland. It is our turn to step in, provide support, and help create prosperity at the bottom of the pyramid.’’

Speaking about the investment, Mr Vineet Rai, Founder and CEO of Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, said: “We know that Mr Sunil Kant Munjal does not normally make announcements of his investments, unless there is a compliance of a market requirement. But in this case, he agreed with us that this is something that needs to be encouraged, especially amongst other corporates. With this investment we can continue to build and scale enterprises that are working at the grassroots, whilst simultaneously multiplying their impact outcomes.”

Hero Enterprise is a widely diversified group that has a legacy of global scale enterprises in multiple areas, including bicycles, motorcycles, auto components, and a host of service businesses. It is now growing and consolidating businesses insurance distribution, training and cold rolled steel-making. The company is also investing in thoughtful real estate projects that seek to dramatically improve the quality of living for India’s middle class.

In addition, Hero Enterprise recently invested in a host of start-ups and select e-commerce ventures that aim to capitalise on India’s rapidly evolving demographics as well as the entrepreneurial energy of the youth. These investments are based on Mr Munjal’s vision of building businesses and ventures that can become global in scale, promote entrepreneurship, are sustainable, have innovative business models and technologies, and embed principles of inclusive growth.

Mr Munjal has also set up Serendipity Arts Foundation, which is tasked with promoting the arts, crafts and culture. This is being done by organising festivals across multiple disciplines, and undertaking residency and education programs in multiple arts disciplines. An attempt is also being made to help create lakhs of livelihoods by helping artisans with their craft, and connecting them with markets. The interests of the Aavishkaar Fund converge with a number of these areas.

Aavishkaar, a part of the Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, is one of the global pioneers in impact investing. Since its incorporation in 2002, Aavishkaar has made more than 50 investments, across sectors and geographies including the low income states. It has raised five funds, delivering commercial returns with a total of ~INR 1300 Cr under management.

While Aavishkaar’s unique approach has resulted in its invested enterprises impacting over 56 million lives and creating over 150,000 jobs and livelihoods, Hero Enterprise too has been involved in promoting and supporting a large number of projects aimed at healthcare, community transportation, skill development, promoting women entrepreneurs, digital learning, holistic education for children, etc.

For his contribution to affordable health care, Mr Munjal has been honored by the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Similarly, Aavishkaar is the only Indian fund to be featured as a case study by the Stanford Business School.