Startup Village Fund to invest $20K-$250K in startups, to focus on internet and telecom space

Startup Village Fund I, an early-stage venture capital fund launched by Kochi-based incubator Startup Village, will invest $20,000-$250,000 in startups across the country, a top executive told Techcircle.in.

The $10 million VC fund, which recently got SEBI approval, will mostly focus on companies operating in the internet and telecom space, said Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of Startup Village. He is also a co-founder of MobME Wireless, a Kerala-based VAS player, which is managing the fund. The new fund also has a greenshoe option to raise another $10 million.

In January this year, Techcircle.in first reported that Startup Village was launching  a VC fund.

According to Vijayakumar, the fund will see its debut investment in a couple of months. "The fund is fully subscribed and we are close to raising $2 million. We expect the first close in a couple of months and will start investing after that," he said.

Besides Startup Village incubatees, the fund will also invest in other fledgling startups. However, the incubatee startups will have an edge over others. Investors will co-invest with other early-stage VCs in the country in case a startup requires more money.

Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, RP group founder Ravi Pillai, the founders of MobME and a few industrialists and leading angel investors will be part of the fund, said Vijayakumar.

Startup Village is also in the process of launching another fund. "It will be a typical angel fund. But we will come out with more details later," said Vijayakumar.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)