Cedar Capital, a fintech-focused investment venture of Cedar Consulting and market intelligence platform IBS Intelligence, has marked the first close of its Rs 240 crore ($30 million) early-stage fund, per a statement.
The fund has already gathered commitments in the range of Rs 50-75 crore ($6-9 million) and has roped in LPs such as family offices and institutional investors from India and the Middle East. It is also being backed by a financial service institution in India.
With an initial cheque size of Rs 4-10 crore ($500k-1 million), Cedar Capital is looking to invest in 15 early-stage banktech-focused startups in seed-Series A rounds.
“Our focus on banktech and fintech comes naturally to us. We have been in the heart of the ecosystem for 60+ years,” said Sahil Anand, the fund’s founder and Managing Partner, who has prior investing experience in Everstone Capital’s PE team.
The fund looks to leverage Cedar-IBSi’s global consulting teams and target geographies such as India, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and other markets.
Cedar Capital’s advisory board consists of industry stalwarts such as Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Group; Pradip Shah, founder, CRISIL & HDFC; Bobby Parikh, co-founder, BMR Advisors; Felipe Martinez, CIO, Revolut; and Sandeep Chouhan, a senior banker and technologist for leading GCC banks.
