India’s Unitus reaches $15m first close on second impact fund

LPs participating include the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Indian high net worth individuals such as Hemendra Kothari and Ajay Parekh. The fund is targeting a final close of INR3 billion later this year, according to a statement.

Unitus plans to invest in up to 30 early-stage Indian start-ups in the healthcare, education and financial technology sectors, committing up to INR150 million per company. The GP may also provide follow-on investments to well-performing portfolio companies. Its principal goal is to support companies that can help increase access to these services for members of India’s lower-income communities.

Unitus was founded in 2012 and closed its first fund the following year at INR1.4 billion. The debut fund has made 23 investments in start-ups including kindergarten and tutoring center operator Hippocampus Learning Centers and on-demand driver service DriveU. It has also made partial exits from math learning start-up Cuemath and two other companies.

For its new fund the firm plans to expand its investment goals to include supporting companies looking to expand to Southeast Asia, Africa or Latin America. It sees India as an archetype for other emerging markets worldwide, but also the most challenging and therefore the best crucible for entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses to global scale.

Unitus has already made six investments from the second fund, including internship booking site Awign, online healthcare platform Predible Health, and health insurance underwriting and claims service i3 Systems.

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