IFC invests $10 mn in Endiya Fund II to support product start-ups

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International Finance Corporation (IFC). (Photo: twitter@IFC_org)

Hyderabad, (Asian independent) The Endiya Fund II has received a commitment of about $10 million (Rs 75 crore) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

The IFC has also committed an additional $10 million for direct co-investments alongside Endiya Fund II. The partnership with the IFC will provide the Endiya portfolio companies with financial and strategic support resulting in increased access to growth opportunities and sustainable scalability, said Hyderabad-based Endiya Partners.

“Early Stage VC investment volumes in India are markedly lower than VC volumes in countries like the US and China. Our investment in VC funds like Endiya helps mobilise capital from other LPs and brings that capital to path breaking early stage businesses,” said Jun Zhang, IFC Country Head, India.

Endiya Partners is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm investing in IP led Indian product start-ups that are globally relevant. Endiya’s current portfolio includes Darwinbox, Steradian Semiconductors, Kissht, SigTuple, and Myelin Foundry.

Endiya Fund II has a corpus target of Rs 500 crore ($65 million) and has already completed its first round at Rs 280 crore ($40 million) in May 2019.

Limited partners in the Fund include financial institutions, corporates, and family offices across India, Europe, and the US.

Endiya Fund II will seek to invest in 16-20 start-ups, with an initial cheque size of $500,000 to $1 million in Seed/Pre-series A rounds and a planned investment of up to $5 million per company.

Founded in 2016 by Sateesh Andra, cardiologist-turned-investor Ramesh Byrapaneni, and Abhishek Srivastava, Endiya added Abhiram Katta to its top deck in 2018 and most recently expanded its Investments team by hiring Dipesh Chawla and Lakshmi Kancharla.

“We are excited to have won the IFC’s support and backing. We value the IFC’s vast global presence across geographies that could offer future expansion markets for our portfolio companies. We are also delighted to have a co-investment envelope from the IFC that could be used to support our investees as they scale,” Andra, Partner at Endiya, said.

Endiya’s Fund I was a 2016 vintage fund with Rs 175 crore ($25 million) corpus and invested in 12 portfolio companies.