New Delhi, April 14 -- Mumbai-based boutique equity investor ValueQuest, which closed its maiden private equity fund in February this year, has backed IPO-bound solar cell manufacturer Jupiter International with an investment of Rs 500 crore (around $58 million).

Kolkata-based Jupiter International, reportedly targeting a $300-million public listing, will use the capital to ramp up its solar cell manufacturing capacity.

The fresh infusion comes from ValueQuest's SCALE Fund, a PE-style investment vehicle. This marks the second investment by ValueQuest in Jupiter International. The firm had first invested Rs 300 crore ($36 million) in July last year.

Founded in 2009 by Alok Garodia, Jupiter International currently operates a 1-GW solar cell facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and plans to scale its total capacity to 5.6 GW for solar cells and 2.4 GW for solar modules, it said in a release. In addition to the funds raised from ValueQuest, the company will also use internal accruals to finance the expansion.

Aum Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to Jupiter International for this transaction.

The SCALE Fund, launched in 2022, is a scheme under the ValueQuest Alternative Investment Fund, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as a Category-II alternative investment fund.

Founded in 2010, ValueQuest is a financial services firm managing investments across both private and publicly listed companies. According to its website, the firm has assets under management exceeding $2.16 billion, and also offers portfolio management services. It is led by founder and CEO Ravi Dharamshi, along with co-founder Sameer Shah.

In February, ValueQuest, alongside venture capital firm Iron Pillar, led a $78-million investment in payment solutions provider ToneTag, also via the SCALE Fund.

Previously, ValueQuest has backed companies, including TBO Tek, Rentomojo, and Kerala-based Sabine Hospital.

Adopting a sector-agnostic approach, the firm targets growth and late-stage growth companies, and has invested across sectors such as consumer, energy transition, niche industrials, healthcare, and tech-enabled businesses.

ValueQuest's maiden PE fund was raised with a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. In June last year, VCCircle reported that it came close to raising Rs 1,300 crore, exceeding its initial target.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.