New Delhi, May 22 -- Asset management firm 360 ONE Asset, part of Mumbai-listed 360 ONE WAM Ltd that counts private equity firm Bain Capital as an investor, is foraying into early-stage investments with the launch of a dedicated venture capital fund.
The fund will have a corpus of Rs 500 crore ($60 million) and will make seed and Series A investments in startups, taking a sector-agnostic approach, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
360 ONE Asset, which was previously known as lIFL Asset Management, said the fund is anchored by its $3 billion PE platform. It intends to build an 'Idea to IPO' capital stack through the early-stage fund, aiming to back founders from their first institutional round through to scale.
"As India approaches its next wave of startup-led economic transformation, 360 ONE Asset's early-stage strategy aims to be at the forefront - identifying, backing, and shaping the companies that will define the next generation of unicorns," said Sameer Nath, CIO and head of PE and VC at 360 ONE Asset.
Abhishek Nag, who will lead the new fund, said the firm's early-stage strategy aims to "bridge the white space" between India's micro-VC ecosystem and the large global funds by backing founders early and supporting them with patient, long-term capital throughout their growth journey.
The fund will also offer co-investment opportunities to strategic partners, he said, adding that it will focus on long-term macro trends like domestic consumption, financial infrastructure, healthcare, AI-led services, and deep-tech innovation.
So far, the fund has four deals in the pipeline. These involve a hybrid-casual gaming company, a hot sauce brand, a SaaS startup and a space-tech firm building indigenous Synthetic Aperture Radar technology.
It also intends to back companies in sectors like consumer technology, fintech infrastructure, generative AI, and frontier technologies related to space, defence, and precision manufacturing.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.