India's SRI launches $100m US-India VC fund
SRI Capital has launched its debut fund, targeting innovative technology start-ups in the US and India, with a target of $100 million.
The fund is anchored by a $20 million commitment from the family office of founder and managing partner Sashi Reddi, who told VC Circle that the firm has already reached a first close of $40 million. Capital is expected to come primarily from US and European investors.
SRI plans to make up to eight investments per year, committing $1-3 million per deal. The firm primarily targets start-ups raising seed-stage rounds, with the possibility of making follow-on investments at the Series A stage. It has already made three investments from the fund in sports news platform Sports Flashes, online healthcare marketplace LetsMD, and financial education company IndianMoney.
According to a statement, future investments will include Indian start-ups targeting US enterprise customers, where the firm sees a shortfall in funding from Indian VCs that do not understand the US market and US-based firms that have trouble connecting with Indian teams. SRI, which has partners based in both countries, expects to overcome these communication challenges.
The firm also plans to continue backing India-focused businesses, based in India or the US, founded by US-educated entrepreneurs. Previous investments in this vein include video streaming provider YuppTV, fitness app HealthifyMe, and technology-enabled budget hotel chain FabHotels. SRI was the first outside investor in all three companies, each of which has gone on to raise multiple VC and PE-backed funding rounds.
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