Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF commits $6.68 mn to Endiya Fund II

Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF (NIDIA), a subsidiary of NSE listed Nippon Life India Asset Management (NAM India), said it has invested Rs 50 crore ($6.68 million at current exchange rates) in the second fund of Endiya Partners.

Tokyo headquartered Nippon Life Insurance (NLI) is a 75% stakeholder in NAM India.

NIDIA, which has so far raised $100 million from its $187 million target, will provide financial and strategic support to startups backed by the Rs 500 crore ($66 million) Endiya Fund II, the statement said. 

It may be noted that fund of funds NIDIA announced its first close at $100 million in January and intends to back 15-20 venture capital funds in India. 

“We are excited about this partnership and look forward to sharing our resources, particularly supporting Endiya’s portfolio companies in their market development and future financing efforts in Japan through the presence of our investor base,” Sachin Bid, fund manager at Nippon India Alternate Investments, or NIDIA, said in a statement issued by the company.

“We believe the partnership between India and Japan is of strategic national importance because it’s a perfect blend of Indian enterprise, its frugal innovation, and software skills with Japanese capital and their hardware prowess,” he said. 

The Hyderabad based venture capital firm’s second fund in May received a commitment of $10 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Earlier this month, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank also committed an additional $10 million to co-invest in companies with Endiya Fund II. 

Endiya Fund II announced its first close in May 2019 with $40 million and plans to invest in 16 to 20 startups during its lifecycle, with an average cheque size of $500,000 to $1 million in seed rounds. While Fund II has backed firms such as deep-tech product company Myelin Foundry and electric mobility solutions provider Cellprop, Fund I has invested in wellness startup Cure.fit, Steradian and medical technology company SigTuple.

Started by Ramesh Byrapaneni, Sateesh Andra and Abhishek Srivastava in 2016, Endiya Partners recently onboarded Dipesh Chawla and Lakshmi Kancharla on its investments team. 

“Apart from business and technology partnership, strategic investment and exit opportunities, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) offers an attractive liquidity option to growing product startups,” Andra, also a partner at Endiya Partners, said. 

“While industry averages state that 30% of seed deals go on to raise follow on capital, 75% of Endiya’s portfolio has raised follow on rounds. This affirms the team's ability to successfully identify and co-create globally scalable early-stage startups,” he said.