pi Ventures, which focuses on AI, IoT, makes final fund close at Rs 2.25 bn

Besides CDC Group UK, which invested Rs 400 mn recently, pi Ventures counts Sunil Kant Munjal, IFC, Sidbi, Mohandas Pai, Binny Bansal, Deep Kalra, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Bhupen Shah among investors

pi Ventures, an Applied Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Internet of Things-focused early-stage venture fund, has announced the final closure of its first fund at Rs 2.25 billion, exceeding the initial target of Rs 1.95 billion. CDC Group UK invested Rs 400 million in pi Ventures recently. 

The other key contributors to the fund, which claims to be first of its kind in this space, include Chairman of Hero Enterprise Sunil Kant Munjal, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Electronic Development Fund (managed by Canbank Ventures), Sidbi, prominent family offices from USA, Canada, Singapore and India and leading entrepreneurs like Mohandas Pai, Binny Bansal, Deep Kalra, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Bhupen Shah, among others. 

The fund is co-sponsored by In Color Capital of Canada and has received 60 per cent of its corpus from institutional investors and majority from Indian limited partnerships (LPs).

pi Ventures plans to invest in 18-20 deep tech startups in India in the next three-four years with a significant portion allocated for follow-ons as well. The pi Ventures team will continue to back startups in health-tech, logistics, retail, fintech and enterprise sectors.

The fund was founded by Manish Singhal and Umakant Soni and Abishek Surendran joined the fund as a partner in 2017. Combined, they bring several decades of experience in technology, products and investing. The team is further supported by Shamik Sharma, ex-Chief Product & Technology Officer, Myntra who is a Venture Partner in the fund.

Manish Singhal, Founding Partner, pi Ventures, said that India’s artificial intelligence (AI) eco-system is at an interesting intersection of data, talent and market need. "We are very excited to have an opportunity to back startups which are creating global solutions from India.”

pi Ventures has so far announced investments in SigTuple (revolutionising global healthcare space through data-driven intelligence), ten3T (medical grade wearable device), NIRAMAI (non-touch, non-radiation, breast cancer screening), Zenatix (data-driven energy efficiency company acquired by Hero Electronix), CustomerSuccessBox (customer success platform which helps B2B SaaS companies reduce, churn and grow their recurring revenue by applying AI and ML) and Locus.sh (logistics optimisation platform).