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India's IIFL to raise $153 million VC fund

  • Holden Mann
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IIFL Wealth Management, the Indian financial services firm backed by Fairfax Holdings and the Carlyle Group, will raise a seed venture fund of up to INR10 billion ($153 million).

The fund, IIFL Seed Ventures Fund I, will invest in start-ups at the Series A and B stages, with some exposure to Series C and D rounds. However, the majority of investments are expected to be in other seed and early stage funds, the firm told VC Circle. The first close is expected in September.

While the fund will be sector agnostic, IIFL expects to focus on companies offering disruptive opportunities in domestic consumption, particularly technology and logistics.

Members of the fund's investment board include TaxiForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna, FreeCharge co-founder Sandeep Tandon, and IIFL Global Chief Investment Officer Anil Ahuja. Investors were not identified, though IIFL said it will contribute between INR250 million and INR500 million itself.

Fairfax bought an additional 26% stake in IIFL earlier this year for INR16 billion; the new shares, combined with its previous 9% stake, made it the largest single shareholder in the company. Carlyle owns a 9% stake in IIFL, which it bought in 2011 for about $37 million.

IIFL already controls PE firm India Alternatives Investment Advisors, having bought a majority stake in 2014.

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