M Damodaran Launches Unicorn India Ventures’ Maiden Venture Debt Fund

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai: Unicorn India Ventures, a leading VC fund, with a diverse portfolio announces its second fund. The new fund will be a venture debt fund with a fund size of Rs 600 crore. Mr. M Damodaran, Chairman, Unicorn India, is an eminent Indian Corporate advisor, mentor and former SEBI Chairman. In a career spanning over four decades, Mr. Damodaran has held a number of important positions in the Central and State Governments including Chairman, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Chairman, Unit Trust of India (UTI), Chairman, Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), Chief Secretary, Government of Tripura.

Mr. Damodaran is presently also chairing the Government of India Task Force to set up the Resolution Corporation of India, as an instrument to identify incipient problems and take corrective action in regard to failing institutions. Besides Mr. Damodaran, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a well-known investor, has joined the Fund as a Managing Partner.

M Damodaran, Chairman, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “The Indian startup ecosystem is maturing. While, there has been a lot of venture equity activity over the last few years, startups are still starved of funds for growth. The capital structure of funds is lopsided with hardly any debt. We believe, it is the right time to launch a venture debt fund, as this asset class will sit alongside traditional venture equity. I’m looking forward to working with the startup ecosystem and help startups optimize their capital structure for balanced growth”. Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “While running our first Venture equity fund, we realized the need for debt financing for startups. High levels of founder dilution, uncertain exit scenarios and limited financing options from Banks/NBFCs have made debt financing need-of-the hour for startup ecosystem.” Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures said, “Debt will give our startups the additional runway they need to adapt and pivot themselves. It will cover their funding requirements as they grow and set them up for appropriate valuation with the right dilution.”

About Unicorn India Ventures

Unicorn India Ventures is a SEBI registered VC fund. The founding Managing Partners of Unicorn are Anil Joshi and Bhaskar Majumdar. The first fund was raised in 2015. This fund has invested solely or as co-investor in startups with innovative business ideas, which can solve real life problems. The deal size varies from $250,000 to $2 million. From the first fund, Unicorn has invested in Boxx.ai, GrabonRent, Inc42, NeuroEquilibrium, Pharmarack, Sequretek, SmartCoin, VanityCube among others.