Indian venture debt firm BlackSoil raises $4.4m via non-convertible debentures

BlackSoil Capital, a venture debt platform in India, announced that it has raised 320 million rupees (US$4.4 million) through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to close a 1 billion rupee (US$13.6 million) fund.

BlackSoil co-founder and director Ankur Bansal / Photo credit: BlackSoil

However, the company didn’t specify if this was the first or final close of the fund.

The NCDs were issued to more than 60 investors for a tenor of three years on a private placement basis. Around 70% of the funds were raised from existing investors, BlackSoil said.

The funds raised will be deployed in the mid- and growth stage across all sectors in the startup ecosystem.

“In the present scenario of lower interest rates, our issue offers safe long-term investment options with stable returns to investors,” said Ankur Bansal, director and co-founder of BlackSoil Group. He added that the firm has received investment from more than 150 high-net-worth families and corporates over the last two years.

BlackSoil said that since its inception in 2016, it has raised a total of 2.65 billion rupee (US$36 million) via 14 NCD issues.

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To date, the company has invested 14 billion rupees (US$190.6 million) in the last four years across over 90 transactions. Its portfolio companies include hospitality chain Oyo, beauty ecommerce platform Purplle, business-to-business marketplace Zetwerks, drugmaker Koye Pharmaceuticals, logistics firm LetsTansport, and bike and scooter rental platform Vogo, among others.

Currency converted from Indian rupee to US dollar: US$1 = 73.42 rupees.