Indian VC Aavishkaar closes Fund II at $94m

The fund will invest in enterprises active in the social infrastructure sector in rural India, in the renewable energy, agriculture, health and education sectors.

Fundraising for Aavishkaar II started in January 2011, with a target of $120 million. It reached a first close at $70 million in September 2011.

So far, $17 million from the fund has been deployed across eight deals. These include investments in Vortex Engineering, a developer of low-cost, solar-powered ATMs, Utkarsh Microfinance, biomass energy developer Vana Vidyut and Karadi Path Education Company, which develops English language learning products.

The VC firm is also looking to raise $60 million for its "Frontier Fund", which will target investments in Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It is looking for investors from Japan and other Asian countries and expects to reach a first close in September.

The firm's managing director, Vineet Rai, told AVCJ that the new fund will back enterprises that offer high-quality education or health services at low prices. They are also interested in Indonesia's renewable energy sector, and will build a local team to develop investments in the country.

This is Aavishkaar's fourth fund: Aavishkaar I closed in January 2009 at $14 million; Aavishkaar Goodwell I, which provides capital to microfinance institutions, reached final close in May 2008 at $18.3 million; and a follow-on fund, targeting $80 million, had a second close at $31 million in June 2012.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• India
• IFC
• Venture
• Growth capital