India's Rockstud targets $37m for sophomore angel fund

It would triple the size of the firm’s debut vehicle, which closed on INR 1bn in mid-2021. That fund has posted a 93.9% return since its inception in 2019, post expenses but pre-carried interest and taxes.

Fund II will write cheques in a range of INR 100m to INR 250m for about 25 companies at the pre-Series A and Series A stages. There is a preference for companies targeting digitalisation, sustainability, financial inclusion, healthcare, and consumer.

As an angel fund, it will invest on a deal-by-deal rather than blind pool basis, providing some co-investment opportunity. Rockstud’s first fund made some PIPE investments in India-listed companies. It is not clear if its successor will also pursue this strategy.

“As India moves towards becoming a USD 5trn economy, we feel this is an opportune time to enter the space, especially when companies are finding it difficult to raise capital amidst the funding winter,” Abhishek Agarwal, Rockstud's founder, said.

India’s seed and angel space is expanding rapidly. Investors announcing fundraising moves in recent months include Kae Capital, Axilor Ventures, Fundamental VC, Inflection Point Ventures, Pi Ventures, Athera Venture Partners, Artha India Ventures, Indian Angel Network, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge programme, and Merak Ventures, a spinout of GrowX Ventures.

Last September, Billionaire Venture Capital and DBS Bank agreed to invest USD 200m in 150m seed-stage start-ups in India, leveraging relationships with local incubators Venture Catalysts and AIC Raise.

As recently as January, Mumbai Angels launched two funds, including an angel fund targeting INR 10bn with a greenshoe option of INR 2bn and a standard VC fund targeting INR3m with a greenshoe of INR 2m.

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