Arkam Ventures announces first closure of maiden fund at Rs 325 crore

Arkam Ventures, a venture capital firm started by former managing directors at Helion Ventures and Kalaari Capital, said on June 8 that it has marked a first closure of Rs 325 crore of its maiden fund. The latter has a Rs 700 crore target to invest in technology-led startups.

Previously called Unitary Helion, the fund is managed by Rahul Chandra, co-founder of Helion Ventures (now disbanded) and Bala Srinivasa, who was with Kalaari Capital.

Investors in the fund (limited partners) include Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, MakeMyTrip CEO Rajesh Magow, among others.

“Our thesis for this fund is ‘Middle India by Design’. We believe that the next $400 million market -- consumers just below the top of the pyramid with a family income between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 20 lakh a year -- will be the primary driver of a new digital India. Almost 70 percent of wallet share of these consumers is distributed across four sectors -- financial services, healthcare, food/grocery and mobility,” wrote Chandra in a LinkedIn post

“These will be our focus areas, although we will not shy away from any opportunity that is genuinely disruptive. We know there are many outstanding founders with deep understanding of middle India -- founders who are designing tech-centric solutions for providing essential services to this market. They are the disruptors we seek to partner with and support,” he added.

Chandra’s investments at Helion Ventures included software firm MoEngage, online learning firm Toppr, rewards platform CrownIt, among others.

Arkam Ventures expects to reach final closure of this fund by FY21-end.

The $100 million (Rs 700 crore) fund will help it compete with early stage startup investors such as Blume Ventures, India Quotient and others with similar fund sizes.

The fund also comes at a time when Indian startups and venture capitalist alike have been battered by the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic and its resulting lockdown. Investors have scaled back fund raising plans, startups have laid off thousands and have been looking for a path to profit after years of capital abundance that let firms pursue growth at all costs.