GrowX team seeks $100m for spinout India VC fund
The team behind Indian angel investor GrowX Ventures has launched a separate fund targeting USD 100m under the name Merak Ventures.
Growx partners Sheetal Bahl and Manu Rikhye (pictured left to right) will lead the new firm and continue to manage the GrowX fund, which has invested in at least 16 start-ups including Google-backed small business financial services provider Progcap. They specialise in early-stage B2B and emerging technologies.
Merak aims to support 18-20 start-ups over the next three to four years across sectors with a focus on climate and carbon, agriculture, mobility, insurance, and enterprise software. The firm specified that it was not interested in social media, lifestyle brands or other “problems of plenty.”
Rikhye and Bahl will be supported by GrowX’s entire team, including CFO Srishti Dhir. Merak will also leverage three venture partners, representing healthcare services provider Roche India, renewable energy provider Claro Energy, and financial services platform Quandl.
“Merak is the culmination of a decade of thinking, learning, and investing in the Indian start-up ecosystem. It represents our strong belief that financial gains and impact, whether on industry, people, or the planet, are not mutually exclusive,” Bahl said in a statement.
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