Unicorn India Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, focuses on deep-tech innovations. Managing partner Bhaskar Majumdar outlines the firm’s pivot towards intellectual property-driven deep-tech ventures in sectors like semiconductors, space tech, and maritime technology. The VC has invested in SmartCoin, Open Bank (100th unicorn in India), Sequretek, Gamerji, ForeignAdmits, and others.
How much funds have you raised till date?
We are currently on our third fund, which has a corpus of ₹1,000 crore. So far, we’ve raised ₹600 crore, after the first close of ₹250 crore, and are actively investing.
Which fund are you deploying from currently, and how much have you invested so far?
We are deploying from Fund III. Significant investments have been made into 11 companies, especially in the deep-tech and digital services sectors.
We are also investing in the existing portfolio from Fund II.
What is your investment thesis?
Our focus is on early-stage investments, positioning ourselves as the first institutional backer for startups. We invest heavily in intellectual property-led deep-tech ventures, as well as businesses leveraging India’s digitisation and ‘India for the world’ SaaS (software-as-a-service) opportunities.
Two-third of our investment is in startups based in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, reflecting our commitment to finding innovative solutions beyond metro hubs.
Which sectors are you bullish on?
We are optimistic about deep-tech, where India has significant competitive advantages, especially given the government’s push for manufacturing through various profit-linked and design-linked incentive schemes.
We also continue to invest in differentiated SaaS and digitisation-driven businesses.
What is the usual time horizon for your investment in a company?
We look at a seven- to eight-year horizon for our investments, during which we expect the companies to mature and potentially achieve exits.
What is the average cheque size you deploy?
For Fund III, our initial cheque size is in the range of ₹10-12 crore. We reserve about 80 per cent of the fund for follow-on investments, allowing us to back winners in the portfolio significantly.
Have you had any exits to date? What sort of exit do you prefer?
In our first fund, we have achieved a 3x return for our investors and are on track for a 6x return. Our exit strategy includes M&A and secondary sales to larger funds and investors. Notable exits include Pharmrack, which digitised the pharmaceutical supply chain.
While we seek strong financial returns, exits are often driven by the defensibility of a company’s intellectual property and its strategic value to acquirers, and that is what we aim to build in our portfolio.
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