IAN Group Closes $100M Alpha Fund to Back Early-Stage Indian Innovators by 2027

The venture capital firm has closed its second fund completely and started investing in tech-driven MSMEs in India that are run by first-generation entrepreneurs.

The USD 100 million, or around Rs. 871 crore, that venture capital platform IAN Group intends to fully spend in early-stage firms by 2027 has finally closed, the company said on Wednesday. According to a statement from IAN Group, since its founding, the fund has already made investments in ten to twelve innovative firms, many of which are run by first-generation entrepreneurs from Tier-II and Tier-III locations throughout India.

According to the release, IAN Group has announced the complete closing of its second venture capital fund, the $100 million IAN Alpha Fund. The Fund will make investments in MSMEs that are in their early stages, have strong founders, are using technology and innovation to solve real problems, and are in line with India's national strategic imperatives. Government investors like the SIDBI-managed DPIIT Fund of Funds for Startups, the Self-Reliant India Fund, the ACE Fund, the Odisha Startup Growth Fund, and the NabVentures-managed Agri Sure Fund of Funds Scheme are examples of marquee investors in the IAN Group.

Saurabh Srivastava, co-founder of IAN Group, stated that although the founder is at the core of the IAN Alpha Fund's thesis, technology must be used to scale the solution for a sizable market, both in India and eventually worldwide. This fund seeks to develop businesses that become global leaders and bring about a paradigm shift in the industry.

The goal of the IAN Alpha Fund, according to Padmaja Ruparel, co-founder of the IAN Group, is to invest in and foster innovation that either builds for India's strategic imperatives or solves actual problems. According to a company-approved representative, 35% of the capital has already been used, and the full deployment is scheduled for November 2027.