Bertelsmann earmarks $500 mn for India investments
With the fresh fund allocation, BII kick starts an early-stage program, under which it plans to make at least 3-4 Series A investments in a year, the company said in a statement.
- Jun 28, 2022,
- Updated Jun 28, 2022 6:26 PM IST
Sector agnostic venture capital fund Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) has earmarked $500 million for new and follow-on investments in India.
With the fresh fund allocation, BII kick starts an early-stage program, under which it plans to make at least 3-4 Series A investments in a year, the company said in a statement. The Series A investments will be in the range of $2-5 million.
Earlier, the venture capital investment arm of German media firm Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA used to do 2-3 mid-stage deals in a year with a ticket size of $5 to $20 million as an initial investment, which can go up to as much as $40 million through the lifecycle of a start-up.
“Bertelsmann India Investments will benefit from Bertelsmann’s Boost program, which is being carried out based on our high investment capacity. It will help Bertelsmann continue to increase its growth momentum significantly. As part of our global venture capital activities, Bertelsmann India Investments will play an important role in this in the years ahead. The Indian economy is seeing very strong growth right now, from which the venture capital industry in particular is benefiting as well,” Carsten Coesfeld, CEO of Bertelsmann Investments, said.
In 2022 and 2023, the company will focus on investments in the health-tech, enterprise-tech, future of work, fintech, agritech, deeptech, and Web3. The fund will also open more offices in India including in Mumbai and Bangalore. The fund is currently headquartered in Delhi.
Since its launch in 2013, BII has invested about $285 million across 17 companies including Eruditus, Licious, Shiprocket, Pepperfry, AgroStar, Lendingkart.
“We are very pleased to be more than doubling our investment under the new Bertelsmann Boost program. Based on our increased allocation of $500 million, we expect to make six to eight new investments a year, for the next five years. We aim to connect with founders early. Today, mid-stage funding in India and the region has transitioned into the early growth stage with multiple disruptive start-ups building such an ecosystem,” Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of BII, said.
BII is part of Bertelsmann Investments, which bundles Bertelsmann's growth initiatives through Bertelsmann Next and VC Investment businesses including Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI). Bertelsmann Investments has so far invested more than $1.06 billion in over 250 companies and funds.
Bertelsmann has other strategic businesses in India such as Penguin Random House, Fremantle India, and Majorel.
Also Read: ONGC chopper crash: 4, including three employees reported dead
Also Read: Mukesh Ambani resigns as Director of Reliance Jio, son Akash appointed Chairman
Sector agnostic venture capital fund Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) has earmarked $500 million for new and follow-on investments in India.
With the fresh fund allocation, BII kick starts an early-stage program, under which it plans to make at least 3-4 Series A investments in a year, the company said in a statement. The Series A investments will be in the range of $2-5 million.
Earlier, the venture capital investment arm of German media firm Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA used to do 2-3 mid-stage deals in a year with a ticket size of $5 to $20 million as an initial investment, which can go up to as much as $40 million through the lifecycle of a start-up.
“Bertelsmann India Investments will benefit from Bertelsmann’s Boost program, which is being carried out based on our high investment capacity. It will help Bertelsmann continue to increase its growth momentum significantly. As part of our global venture capital activities, Bertelsmann India Investments will play an important role in this in the years ahead. The Indian economy is seeing very strong growth right now, from which the venture capital industry in particular is benefiting as well,” Carsten Coesfeld, CEO of Bertelsmann Investments, said.
In 2022 and 2023, the company will focus on investments in the health-tech, enterprise-tech, future of work, fintech, agritech, deeptech, and Web3. The fund will also open more offices in India including in Mumbai and Bangalore. The fund is currently headquartered in Delhi.
Since its launch in 2013, BII has invested about $285 million across 17 companies including Eruditus, Licious, Shiprocket, Pepperfry, AgroStar, Lendingkart.
“We are very pleased to be more than doubling our investment under the new Bertelsmann Boost program. Based on our increased allocation of $500 million, we expect to make six to eight new investments a year, for the next five years. We aim to connect with founders early. Today, mid-stage funding in India and the region has transitioned into the early growth stage with multiple disruptive start-ups building such an ecosystem,” Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of BII, said.
BII is part of Bertelsmann Investments, which bundles Bertelsmann's growth initiatives through Bertelsmann Next and VC Investment businesses including Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI). Bertelsmann Investments has so far invested more than $1.06 billion in over 250 companies and funds.
Bertelsmann has other strategic businesses in India such as Penguin Random House, Fremantle India, and Majorel.
Also Read: ONGC chopper crash: 4, including three employees reported dead
Also Read: Mukesh Ambani resigns as Director of Reliance Jio, son Akash appointed Chairman