Beams Fintech Fund (Beams), announced today that it has completed the first close of its maiden fund within three months of its official launch. The firm has already received commitments of up to Rs 270 crores or $36 Mn for the Fund and is in the advanced stages of completing the documentation.
“Beams will back Growth Stage Companies operating at the intersection of the Financial Services & Technology (Fintech) sector. The Fund aims to reach the target corpus of Rs 750 crores or $100 Mn within the next nine months,” the statement said.
The First Close saw participation from marquee Domestic & International investors including Banks, NBFCs, Fintechs, Large Family offices, Financial Service CXOs & Fintech Founders.
Existing investors of Venture Catalysts & 9 Unicorns (first fund from Venture Catalysts) also backed Beams in its first close. The Fund is now in advanced discussions with several Domestic and Global Institutional investors & Family offices for its subsequent closes & achieve its initial target corpus of Rs 750 crores or $100 Mn.
The Series B & C oriented fund will primarily invest in 10-12 companies from the Fund and will maintain its Fintech-focused theme. Beams follows a Top-Down & Bottoms Up approach towards investing. The team has narrowed down 6 major themes within the Fintech space including Embedded finance, Products & Technologies, Enterprise SAAS, Neo banks, and Platforms catering to MSMEs.
Beams has already begun its innings by investing in millennial-focused neo-bank, Niyo Solutions Inc last month, alongside Accel and Light rock India. Founded by veterans in banking and technology — Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht— Niyo fits perfectly within the fund’s investment strategy of investing in fast-growing, high-quality, growth-stage fintech companies backed by marquee founders.
Commenting on the development, Anuj Golecha, Co-Founder & Partner, Beams Fintech Fund, said “It’s remarkable for us to achieve a First Close for Beams in just a few months after the official launch. Thanks to our investors. This success in fundraising has come on the back of the track record & the team that we have built for Beams. We are building a strong operating team with a deep experience in the Fintech space for the execution of this Growth Stage investing strategy and founders are appreciating the same.”
Beams has already onboarded Naveen Surya as the Founding team member of Beams. The Fund has also onboarded several marquee Partners, Founders, Mentors & Advisors including Deepak Ahuja, Dharmesh Gathani, Ronil Sujan, Rakesh Surana, and Suumit Shah, Nakul Beri, Sunil Kulkarni to add value to the portfolio companies. The Fund is in the process of augmenting its investment team with strong Fintech & Financial Services experienced investing professionals.
Speaking on the announcement, Sagar Agarvwal, Co-Founder & Partner, Beams Fintech Fund, said, “We are very grateful to our investors for believing in our strategy and our ability to create & build India’s first Growth Stage focused Fintech investing Fund. In Beams, we are building a very unique platform that brings together experienced Founders & Institutions to help & cross-pollinate with our portfolio entrepreneurs on strategy, team building, and growth”
“With a strong institutional investor interest in Beams, we hope to create more than $25-30 Bn in value for the Fintech ecosystem over the next couple of years,” Sagar Agarvwal added.
Further commenting on the investment round, Naveen Surya, Fintech Expert Partner, Beams Fintech Fund, said, “These are exciting times for us and validation of the large-scale investing opportunity in the Fintech space in India at Growth Stages. Through this Fund and the platform, we aim to provide investors with a value creation opportunity in the Fintech domain and access to one of the most powerful Fintech networks in India.”
India has several sectors focused on Growth Funds across consumer & health care spaces such as Fireside Ventures, Sixth Sense Venture, DSG Ventures, Healthquad, Quadria, etc but the Fintech space continued its dependence on International Managers such as Ribbit capital, QED, Insight, GGV, General Catalyst, Vitruvian to make growth-stage investments in India. With Beams now, we will also have a home-grown Fund primarily investing in the Fintech space in India at Growth Stages.