3one4 Capital Launches $15M Fund for Under-Represented Indian Founders

Venture capital firm 3one4 Capital, in collaboration with British International Investment (BII), has launched a new $15 million fund aimed at bolstering under-represented sectors and founders within the Indian startup ecosystem.

The IIDEA Fund will concentrate its investments on key sectors including energy transition, agriculture, health, deeptech, and manufacturing. A significant focus will also be placed on supporting ventures led by women, founders from non-metro cities, and businesses addressing critical developmental gaps.

The entire $15 million corpus has already been secured, with BII acting as the sole limited partner for this new fund. This initiative by 3one4 Capital intends to back approximately 10 to 15 startups, with initial ticket sizes of $500,000 each, reserving the remainder for follow-on funding rounds.

The firm has already commenced deployment of capital from this fund, having closed nearly five investments to date. Nruthya Madappa, partner at 3one4 Capital, stated, “We’re looking to address funding gaps across areas that have historically attracted limited capital. At the same time, we’re focused on backing under-represented founders, including women entrepreneurs and founders from tier II and tier III cities.”

This launch follows 3one4 Capital’s preparations for its fifth fund, which is expected to target a corpus of $225 million. That upcoming fund will focus on early-stage startups in sectors such as AI and SaaS, enterprise and manufacturing automation, fintech, deeptech, and consumer internet.

To date, 3one4 Capital reports having backed over 100 startups, with 26 profitable exits recorded across its first two funds. Notable past successes include a partial exit from the audio OTT platform Kuku FM, which yielded an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 90% and a 38.4X multiple on invested capital (MOIC).