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Early stage investment platform IAN Group has completed the final close of its second venture capital vehicle, the IAN Alpha Fund, with a total corpus of USD 100 million.
The Alpha Fund aims to invest in early stage companies across sectors such as artificial intelligence, space technology, semiconductors, climate innovation, healthcare and other frontier areas. The organisation stated that the fund is designed to back founders who are building solutions with the potential for long term economic and technological impact.
The fund received commitments from a wide base of institutional and government linked investors. Key contributors included the Self Reliant India Fund, the Fund of Funds for Startups managed by SIDBI, the ACE Fund and the Odisha Startup Growth Fund.
Support also came from insurance companies and several family offices. The organisation highlighted participation from Buimerc Corporation based in Dubai, HDFC Life, the DS Group Family Office and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Since its launch, the Alpha Fund claims to have already invested in nearly 10 to 12 emerging startups led by first generation founders. Many of these entrepreneurs are based in tier II and tier III cities, reflecting the organisation's intent to increase opportunities for innovators across a wider geographic base and not only in major urban centres.
IAN Group describes itself as one of the largest horizontal platforms for seed and early stage investment in India. Its network includes the IAN Angel Fund, BioAngels and multiple SEBI registered venture capital funds.
It supports entrepreneurs seeking capital ranging from INR 50 lakh to INR 50 crore and provides access to mentoring and global markets. The organisation claims to have built a portfolio of more than 250 companies with a combined market valuation of almost USD 10 billion across sectors such as space technology, biotechnology, defence technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and financial technology. In August, IAN Group appointed Chintan Thakkar as its Group Chief Executive Officer.
