Indian venture debt firm BlackSoil completes the first close of new fund at over $14m

BlackSoil, a venture debt company in India, announced that it has completed the first close of its maiden secured alternative investment fund (AIF) called BlackSoil India Credit Fund (BICF) at 1.1 billion rupee (US$14.7 million).

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

The funds were raised primarily from family offices and high net worth individuals.

The company aims to raise a total of 3.5 billion rupee (US$46.9 million) in total and allocate the funds to over 30 deals with an average check size of 100 million to 200 million rupee (US$1.3 million to US$2.7 million) per investment.

The fund will target startups and companies across mid and growth stages. And while it is sector agnostic, it will also look at companies with a strong cash flow and those that are EBIDTA positive or reasonably on that trajectory.

With the current environment, BICF’s fundraise signals the increasing popularity of debt among startups, the firm said, as it helps companies avoid dilution of equity, finance working capital for day-to-day business operations, and increase their runway.

“We are seeing a strong pipeline of startups across technology, healthcare, enterprise, and consumer segments with a need to finance their growing businesses, which will continue to grow in the coming years,” BlackSoil said in a statement.

The company claims it has deployed 9.5 billion rupee (US$127.2 million) over four years across more than 70 transactions in companies including Oyo, Zetwerk, Spinny, Koye Pharmaceuticals, EarlySalary, and LetsTransport, among others.

Currency converted from Indian rupee to US dollar: US$1 = 74.68 rupee.