Early-Stage Deeptech Startups to Benefit as pi Ventures Raises INR 22 Cr for Second Fund
- ByStartupStory | March 28, 2023
Pi Ventures secures INR 22 Cr from Colruyt Group India for second fund focused on deeptech startups. Pi Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups, has raised INR 22 Cr ($2.6 Mn) from Colruyt Group India, the IT arm of Belgian retail giant. The investment is for Pi Ventures’ second fund, which is expected to close later this year, targeting a range of INR 675 Cr to INR 750 Cr. The fund will primarily invest in deeptech startups at their early stages, operating across various sectors including spacetech, biotech, and blockchain.
The VC firm intends to utilize its partnership with Colruyt to explore opportunities for its portfolio companies in Europe. Manish Singhal, the founding partner of pi Ventures, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration and welcomed Colruyt’s support. Colruyt Group India MD Hari Subramanian commented on the fundraise, stating that the association with pi Ventures is timely, given their belief in digital possibilities and their own consumption of technology. He also expressed excitement about partnering with pi Ventures and leveraging their collective capabilities to contribute to the digital evolution.
pi Ventures made this announcement over a year after revealing the initial closure of its second fund, amounting to INR 303.5 Cr, in January of last year. The Indian venture fund secured $8 Mn from British International Investment (BII), a UK-based development finance institution, in November 2022. The fund is supported by notable investors such as Nippon India Digital Innovation fund, Accel, and angel investors like Binny Bansal, Hemendra Kothari, and Varun Alagh, among others.
The second fund of pi Ventures has already invested in seven startups, including Ottonomy, ImmunitoAI, and Silence Laboratories. In the next two to three years, the venture fund intends to invest in 20-25 startups.
Founded in 2016 by Manish Singhal, pi Ventures focuses on investing in early-stage deeptech startups that specialize in emerging technologies. The VC firm raised its first fund, which amounted to INR 225 Cr, in 2018 and invested in 15 deeptech startups. Notable startups backed by pi Ventures include AgniKul, a spacetech startup, Pixis, a cloud marketing platform, and Wysa, a mental health app.
In March 2021, pi Ventures launched the ongoing second fund, which aimed to raise a base target corpus of INR 675 Cr. Meanwhile, Colruyt Group India specializes in developing software solutions that cover everything from maintaining existing IT systems to creating products using emerging technologies.
Despite a decline in funding across most sectors and market volatility in 2022, deeptech startups had a successful year, raising $1.5 Bn in funding, according to Inc42 data. This amount is more than double the $451 Mn raised in 2021. Recently, Optimized Electrotech, a deeptech startup, secured INR 20 Cr in funding, while IoT startup Intangles Lab raised $10 Mn in a Series A round from Baring Private Equity Partners India.
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