Soonicorn Ventures launches Rs 250 cr fund to nurture early-stage Indian startups

NEW DELHI: Investment technology platform Soonicorn Ventures (SV) on Tuesday said it has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to introduce an Angel Fund worth Rs 250 crore.

The Category-I Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) has an additional Rs 250 crore available as a green-shoe option, bringing the total fund capacity to Rs 500 crore to nurture early-stage startups in India, the company said in a statement.

“We had set an ambitious target to build a portfolio of 30 startups this year, and we are proud to announce that we achieved this milestone in less than 8 months despite a funding winter,” said CA Vijay Singh Rathore, CEO and Co-founder of Soonicorn Ventures.

“With the introduction of this Angel Fund, we aim to provide more flexibility to investors and facilitate single cap-table entries for startups. Additionally, we will assist syndicates in utilising fund-as-a-service," Rathore added.

The company will allocate investments ranging from Rs 50 lakh-Rs 4 crore in startups at the seed to series A funding stages.

The platform has been investing in sectors such as drone technology, B2B SaaS, electric vehicles (EV), financial technology (fintech), supply chain logistics and others.

“The trust placed in us by both investors and founders has inspired us to invest more time and energy in developing a robust regulatory framework. This Angel Fund is a significant step in that direction,” said CA Pravesh Kumar Goel, Co-Founder of SV.

Soonicorn Ventures' portfolio has startups such as Zypp, Zingbus, Samosa Party, SupplyNote, AutoNxt, Skylark, Cusmat, Savart, and more.

Founded in January 2022, SV is a SEBI-registered Category-I Angel Fund hosting a community of more than 2,000 investors. Soonicorn Ventures is backed by Nucleus Advisors, a boutique advisory firm.