Following in the path of Omnivore Partners, SEAF’s India Agribusiness Fund, and Rabobank Equity Advisors, India’s CapAleph, founded by former partner at Indian Value Fund, George Thomas, and The Meeran Family Trust are seeking to raise Rs 125 Cr (US$20 million) for a new fund targeting early stage investments in the agriculture and food sectors. The CapAleph Indian Millenial SME Fund will target capital commitments from domestic institutions and HNIs, and is targeting its first close by June 2015 and its final close by December of this year.
George Thomas tells the Economic Times, “Food & agriculture is one of the backwaters in India which is under-invested. By providing both equity and debt to entrepreneurs, we want to become the first hybrid investment platform in the space,”
An anchor commitment of approximately Rs 25 – 30 Cr (US$4 – $4.8 million) will come from the Meeran family, founders of Eastern Condiments which boasts turnover of Rs 800 Cr (US$128.25 million).
CapAleph plans to invest between Rs 5 Cr and Rs 25 cr (US$800,000 and US$4 million) in each company to be sourced from professors at agricultural universities, food labs of global players such as Pepsi and Unilever, and government labs, in exchange for a significant minority stake in the business which will generally be in excess of 40%. It has also aligned with international funds to help finance larger investments of approximately US$12 million.
The Meeran family and CapAleph also plan to extend and expand their partnership through the establishment of an incubator for startups in the agri space, which will back three to four ideas per year with an average investment of Rs 20 lakh (US$2 million) each.
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