<article>Early-stage investment firm <a href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/equanimity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equanimity Investments</a>, backed by investment guru <a href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/mark-mobius" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Mobius</a>, has secured the Rs 100 crore it was seeking for its maiden fund.</article>

Early-stage investment firm <a href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/equanimity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equanimity Investments</a>, backed by investment guru <a href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/mark-mobius" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Mobius</a>, has secured the Rs 100 crore it was seeking for its maiden fund.
The company is now looking to raise another Rs 100 crore as part of its greenshoe option, associate partner Shilpa Sehgal told DEALSTREETASIA.
The venture capital firm, which was founded by former Franklin Templeton Investment senior executive Rajesh Sehgal, had achieved its first close at Rs 70 crore earlier this year.
Sehgal, who founded the investment firm last year, is also a prolific angel investor, having backed 22 startups since 2007. He has also exited a handful of his investments, including EduPristine, GreenDust, Dhama Innovations and Zipdial.
The Mumbai-based investor is aiming to wrap up raising capital for its maiden fund in the next six months, Shilpa Sehgal said.
&#8220;We have a good mix of overseas and domestic investors. We also have a Mauritius feeder fund, where overseas investors can come in and the domestic investors can come directly into the AIF,&#8221; Sehgal said. &#8220;Currently it’s more HNIs and family offices, but going forward we are also seeing institutional interest.&#8221;
Investors that have so far backed Equanimity include Mark Mobius of Templeton Emerging Markets Group and Vijay Advani, president of Nuveen, the investment management arm of TIAA.
The sector-agnostic fund has already invested in four startups so far and is poised to close a couple more deals very soon. Its cheque sizes range from $500,000 to $3 million.
Most recently, it invested an undisclosed amount in B2B marketplace for medical supplies, DrStore. Prior to that, it had invested $1 million in the pre-Series A funding round for fintech startup Sqrrl.
&#8220;We are aiming to invest in seven companies each year in our three years for the fund, so it should be seven each in the next two years, taking the total to around 20 in the portfolio,&#8221; said Sehgal.
At the launch of the fund, Equanimity had partnered with Sanctum Wealth Management as a distributor. The association was to help Sanctum Wealth strengthen its product proposition, while allowing Equanimity access to Sanctum’s wealthy clients for its fundraising efforts.
&#8220;When we started the fund they (Sanctum) were our distributors and that’s our only association with them. We are seeking long-term partnerships with other distributors also now,&#8221; Sehgal said.
Many venture capital firms in India are currently in the market to raise funds. Recently, Matrix India raised $320 million for its third fund. Another early-stage investor, Endiya Partners, is reportedly raising a Rs 500-crore ($68.5-million) fund while impact investor Aavishkaar is out to raise $300 million. Quadria-backed HealthQuad is also in the market to raise $100 million.
The largest of these funds was Sequoia Capital India, which closed its sixth fund at $695 million earlier this year, targeting early- and growth-stage investments across India and Southeast Asia (SEA).
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/india-equanimity-targets-final-close-30m-debut-fund-june-2018-84196/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exclusive: VC firm Equanimity targets final close of $30m debut fund by June 2018</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/mark-mobius-joins-indias-equanimity-announces-plans-for-fund-management-firm-92728/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Mobius joins India’s Equanimity, announces plans for fund management firm</a>

Investors that have so far backed Equanimity include Mark Mobius of Templeton Emerging Markets Group and Vijay Advani, president of Nuveen, the investment management arm of TIAA.

Equanimity raises $14m for maiden fund, aims to double capital via greenshoe option

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Equanimity raises $14m for maiden fund, aims to double capital via greenshoe option

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