A naukri.com initiative
ISN
3w
1k
Image Credit: ISN
Campus Fund launches $100 million fund to invest in student, college dropout-led startups
- Campus Fund, the only SEBI-registered Category II alternative investment fund for student and recent college dropout-led startups, has launched its third fund with a target of $100 million.
- The fund has achieved its first close, securing over 50% of the corpus and has started deploying capital.
- Founded by Richa Bajpai during her MBA, Campus Fund aims to democratize startup capital and nurture entrepreneurial ambition in India.
- The fund focuses on student and recent graduate founders, aiming to invest in 60 to 80 startups over four years.
- Investments range between Rs 1 crore and Rs 8 crore with half the fund reserved for follow-on rounds.
- Campus Fund has an expanding portfolio with investments in startups like Expand My Business and EtherealX.
- The fund receives over 7,000 startup applications annually and is sourced through a network of more than 100 student scouts.
- Notable backers in the fund include 360 One, Fireside Ventures, HDFC Securities, and Google early investor Asha Jadeja Motwani.
- Some startups backed by Campus Fund have raised capital from prominent global investors like Accel and a16z.
- The fund aims to seize the generational opportunity as higher education decentralizes and startup infrastructure expands to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- Campus Fund believes in the potential of student founders and views backing them as a strategic investment for the future.
- The fund's investments include sectors like B2B digital services, space situational awareness, reusable rockets, flying taxis, and online dispute resolution.
- Campus Fund has begun returning capital to investors from its earlier funds.
- Founder Richa Bajpai sees supporting student startups as a significant milestone in her career, having launched her startup from a college dorm in 2009.
- The fund has made early-stage investments in startups like Serendipity Space, which focuses on pharmaceutical processing in microgravity.
Read Full Article
12 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app