Anicut Capital to raise ₹1,500 cr for its largest private credit fund

livemint.com:

₹1,200 crore-1,500 crore by the end of the current financial year for its third and largest private credit fund, the investment firm said in a statement on Friday. The third private credit fund, which was launched in March 2023 and has deployed ₹400 crore to date, will be used to support high-potential opportunities in the small and medium enterprises space through debt capital. Its previous two funds were ₹400 crore (launched in 2016) and ₹865 crore (in 2019) in size.

"Our third credit fund is progressing well, with significant deployments expected by June," Anicut co-founder and managing partner IAS Balamurugan said. The multi-asset alternative investment firm said it had closed its first late-stage equity continuum fund with a size of ₹300 crore. The fund will invest in companies preparing for an initial public offering in the next 2-4 years.

With an average cheque size of ₹45 crore-50 crore, Anicut will invest in 5-6 high-performing portfolio companies that have shown significant scalability, profitability and readiness to tap the public markets, it said in the statement. “This fund highlights our commitment to supporting businesses at various stages of growth... The swift closure within eight weeks, bolstered by a substantial ₹60 crore investment from HDFC AMC, underscores strong investor confidence," said Ashvin Chaddha, managing partner and co-founder of Anicut.

The firm introduced an angel fund in January 2020 through which it invested over ₹275 crore in more than 60 early and growth-stage startups. Its equity growth fund, which started last year, has raised over ₹350 crore and has invested in pre-series A/B startups. Through these funds, Anicut’s total assets under management have surpassed ₹3,000 crore.