New Delhi: Alteria Capital Advisors Llp, a venture debt firm launched by former executives of InnoVen Capital, has made the second close of its maiden fund, securing a commitment of roughly ₹625 crore ($85 million) from its largest backers.
Separately, Alteria also invested ₹8 crore in scooter-sharing firm Vogo as part of the start-up’s Series A round led by Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd), Stellaris Venture Partners and Matrix Partners last month.
Alteria Capital, which was started in October last year, secured commitments from anchor investors such as IndusInd Bank and Small Industries Development Bank of India.
Alteria raised ₹356 crore in March as part of its first close. The company said it expects to complete the final close of its maiden fund over the next few months.
Mumbai-based Alteria Capital has a total corpus of ₹800 crore with a so-called green-shoe option of another ₹200 crore.
The fund backs both early- and late-stage start-ups, with cheque sizes ranging from ₹2 crore to ₹100 crore.
It typically backs ventures in consumer internet, technology, healthcare, education and logistics.
Alteria’s latest investment in Vogo is part of the earlier Series A round that was completed in August.
Mint reported in April that Vogo was in talks to raise funds from Ola, Stellaris and Matrix.
“Short distance commutes in India are a big problem and the last few years have shown that Indian customers are willing to pay for appropriate value and tech-driven convenience. Anand and the team at Vogo have shown excellent promise in providing Indian consumers an inexpensive, convenient solution for their first and last mile commute requirements and we are excited to partner with them on this journey,” said Vinod Murali, co-founder and managing partner at Alteria Capital.
Alteria is one of a handful of venture debt funds operating in India.
Venture debt has gained traction in India only over the last few years, while it is already popular in the US and Southeast Asia.
Venture debt helps founders raise capital without selling their shareholding. Such deals are structured largely as debt and only a small percentage of the investment—usually 15%—is in equity.
Hence, venture debt deals happen alongside venture capital investments.
Big start-ups such as Byju’s, Yatra.com, OYO and Swiggy have raised crores in debt, alongside venture capital. In 2017 alone, $81 million was invested in 30 venture debt deals in Indian companies, according to private capital tracker Venture Intelligence, Mint reported in January.
Alteria Capital, a category II Alternative Investment Fund, is the newest player in the venture debt market and competes with Temasek-backed InnoVen Capital, Trifecta Capital and IntelleGrow, among others.
Alteria’s current portfolio includes food startup Fingerlix (Maverix Platforms Pvt Ltd), learning platform Toppr Technologies Ltd, the maker of organic cold-pressed juices and healthy drinks RawPressery and fashion company Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd (which operates the Wrogn, Imara & Ms Taken brands).
The fund is promoted by Murali and Ajay Hattangadi, former executives of Temasek-backed InnoVen Capital that was earlier known as SVB India Finance.