Funding Alert

Kotak Alternatives Arm Announces First Data Center Fund With Goal To Raise $1 Billion

• ByStartupStory     |    November 29, 2022

Kotak Data Center Fund will make significant bets on the data-backed digital economy, enterprise cloud, 5G, and IoT, according to Kotak Alternate Assets, which is managed by Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL) (internet of things). Under its first data center platform, the alternatives arm of the Kotak Group hopes to generate anywhere from $500 million (roughly Rs 4,000 crore) to $1 billion. Subhamkar Das, a former vice president at Nxtra Data Ltd., has been hired as COO to oversee and manage the data center platform.

According to the statement, Subhamkar will play a key role in the development of KIAL’s data center practice as a senior member of the Alternate Asset Management team. With almost 24 years of experience, Subhamkar has held positions such as data center head with construction engineering company Sterling and Wilson and country business manager at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. He has contributed to the design of data centers, physical infrastructure, environmentally friendly buildings, and next-generation data centers.

“India is at the cusp of a data explosion backed by the digital economy, enterprise cloud, 5G, and IoT. Over the next 5 years, we will see the data center industry grow from 650 MW to 2.2 GW, requiring a cumulative investment of $7 billion. At Kotak, we have always led the way in identifying new investment opportunities and investing in empowered teams to execute plans to meet our investors’ target expectations,” said Srini Sriniwasan, managing director at KIAL. 

KIAL, one of the most active domestic investors, is on a fundraising binge and has launched numerous funds in various industries. According to a report from VCCircle this year, the Kotak investment arm is currently raising several funds and plans to enter the venture capital, venture debt, and buyout sectors.

KIAL received commitments from an affiliate of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) two weeks ago for its 13th real estate fund, which has a $1 billion target size. Additionally, the Kotak Infrastructure Investment Fund’s first closure received a commitment of Rs 1,850 crore from Canada’s largest pension fund manager, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) (KIIF).

Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund announced the first close at Rs. 1,386 crore in the middle of this year, and KIAL is also raising its second new round of funding. KIAL, a subsidiary of the Kotak Mahindra Group, was established in 2005 with a focus on the alternative asset industry. Over $6.8 billion has been raised, managed, or advised by it overall, spanning a variety of asset classes, including real estate, private equity, infrastructure, special situations funds, and investment consulting, all under the direction of separate investment teams.

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