Exfinity Fund raises Rs 100 cr in first round

V Balakrishnan said fund has signed up three deals so far and is conducting due diligence on all of them

Exfinity Technology Fund, a venture capital fund floated by several IT industry leaders on Wednesday said it has closed Rs 100 crore in the first round, which was subscribed by several CXOs, industrialists, family offices, professionals, ultra-high networth individuals and institutional investors.

Exfinity is promoted by Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai, Former India CEO of I-flex Solutions Deepak Ghaisas, Former Wipro Joint-CEO Girish Paranjpe and Former Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan.

“Presently only the green shoe option (of Rs 25 crore) is now open for exercise and is also expected to be filled in the coming weeks largely from institutional investors,” a statement from Exfinity said. “It is one of the rare instances in recent times where a first time fund has made a closure that is equivalent to the fund size,” it added.

The fund has signed up three deals so far and is conducting due diligence on all of them, V Balakrishnan said. These deals are in niche areas and are promoted by 'pedigreed professionals’, he said.

“Exfinity with its strong pedigree of founders coupled with holistic ecosystem of mentors, industry connects, subject matter experts and financing provides a perfect platform for young entrepreneurs to realise their dreams,” Balakrishnan added.

The formation of Exfinity was announced in December 2013. According to sources, the four technology veterans—Pai, Ghaisas, Paranjape and Balakrishnan, had indicated a commitment of Rs 5 crore each for this fund. Besides pooling in their own resources, the four had decided to tap various other technology veterans to kick-start the fund.