Funding Alert

Hyderabad Angels Launches INR 150 Cr Debut Fund to Support Early Stage AI Startups

• ByStartupStory     |    February 12, 2024

Hyderabad Angels, an interface linking investors and innovative entrepreneurs, has initiated its debut venture capital fund amounting to INR 150 Cr to support early-stage startups. The Hyderabad Angels Fund (HAF), classified as a category I alternative investment fund (AIF), will have a core investable corpus of INR 100 Cr, complemented by an additional greenshoe option of INR 50 Cr, as revealed in a statement on Monday (February 12). “The fund plans to deploy up to INR 5 Cr across 20 startups in Pre-Series A or Series A funding stages with a commitment to follow-on investments,” stated the announcement.

Focused on nurturing startups aiming for expansion through technology and artificial intelligence, HAF is poised to collaborate with entrepreneurs as investors, propelling rapid scalability for ventures rooted in robust technological frameworks. The founders of the fund, Sri Myneni and Kishore Ganji, emphasized, “We are building HAF as a dynamic, collaboration-driven platform where founders not only secure financial backing but also tap into the collective wisdom of accomplished limited partners (LPs) who themselves are successful entrepreneurs.”

Beyond financial support, the fund will extend mentorship to startup founders, leveraging the expertise of Hyderabad’s serial entrepreneurs and investors across diverse sectors. The initiative comes on the heels of financing platform GetVantage’s announcement of the SaaS Accelerator Fund II for B2B SaaS businesses, totaling INR 250 Cr. Similarly, the Karnataka government unveiled an INR 20 Cr venture capital (VC) fund earmarked for investments in animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) startups.

Reflecting on the burgeoning landscape, Inc42’s India’s Startup Investor Landscape Report 2023 forecasts a steady rise in the number of VCs, estimating a surge to over 2.7K by 2025 and 5K by 2030. The initiatives by Hyderabad Angels and other entities underscore the momentum driving investments and support for emerging startups in India’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem.

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