With a plan to foray into the African and Southeast Asian market, Aavishkaar Group, a social enterprise focused investment firm, has reportedly, bagged $37 million (approx ₹262 crore) from a Netherlands-based FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank, cited ET.
Existing investors of the Aavishkaar Bharat Fund include UK government-run development finance institution CDC Group, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Sunil Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise, among others.
Vineet Rai, chief executive of Aavishkaar Group, said, “A substantial portion of proceeds from the new round will be used to start building the groundwork to expand its operations in Africa and Southeast Asia, with an added focus on bringing its debt vehicles to the two regions.”
Earlier in November 2018, the Aavishkaar Group was eyeing to raise ₹2,200 crore for its new fund to invest in South Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos, among others, while avoiding India and China.
Aavishkaar Group was founded by Vineet Rai in 2001, with a vision to catalyse development in India’s underserved regions.
The investment firm Aavishkaar Group has over $1 billion in assets under management and a diverse portfolio ranging across sectors such as agriculture, dairy, education, energy, handicrafts, health, water and sanitation, technology for development, microfinance and financial inclusion.
It focuses on early-to-mid stage companies ranging across sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, clean technology, education and financial inclusion.
Some of the firm’s investments in India include Pune-based agritech startup AgroStar, Odisha-based Milk Mantra, luxury lifestyle brand Mela Artisans, and logistics startup GoBOLT, among others.