Nikhil Kamath-promoted Gruhas launches new fund as it bets big on property tech sector

Brigade Group's joint managing director Nirupa Shankar with Abhijeet Pai, co-founder, Gruhas and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath.

Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath-promoted Gruhas Venture Capital has partnered with real estate major Brigade Group to launch a real estate tech and sustainability focused investment fund worth Rs 300 crore, which they say is India's first.

Gruhas, which has backed more than 50 startups in sectors like media and consumer, sustainability among others, is now evaluating companies in the real estate space.

Property developer Brigade Group's joint managing director Nirupa Shankar said that they were investing in firms in the property technology space, but those were early stages. "When we realised both Gruhas and we were planning to launch a fund to back high growth startups, we joined forces."

The Rs 200 crore SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), with an additional Rs 100 crore green-shoe option, aims to back high-growth startups solving challenges in the built world through sustainability and innovation.

Earth Fund will invest Rs 8-12 crore in pre-Series A and Series-A tech startups with 10-15 investments and capital reserve for follow on, said Abhijeet Pai, co-founder, Gruhas.

"We have a healthy pipeline and some of them are at advanced stages across the value chain in urban technology and sustainability. We will start deploying capital in the next couple of months. We have 5 years to deploy the entire fund. We will deploy this capital in the next 2-3 years with 50 percent in the first year, 30 percent in the second year and 20 percent in the third year. We expect to start exiting companies from 6th or 7th year onwards. We will reserve 30 percent of capital for follow on investments in around 5-6 companies," he added.

Focus areas for the fund include innovations across urban technology covering proptech, construction tech, real estate solutions, and asset utilization; and sustainability, including climate tech, clean tech, smart mobility, and energy solutions.

Both Gruhas and Brigade have been approached by hundreds of startups.

Gruhas will work towards identifying and nurturing high-impact ventures.

In addition, Brigade REAP which has mentored and invested in over 80 companies over the last 8 years across the urban technology and sutainability value chain through its REAP Accelerator and Investment program, will support investee companies beyond just capital with industry integration, market access, go-to-market acceleration, strategic fundraising, and growth support.

Shankar said that their aim is to identify and support startups that will redefine urban development and drive long term value.

"Our goal is to bridge the gap between traditional real estate and cutting-edge technology, fostering an ecosystem for sustainable and efficient urban solutions."

With India's population surpassing 1.4 billion, modernizing our built environment is more urgent than ever, Pai said.