Avendus, Zodius team up to invest $500 mn in tech cos

Domestic merchant banker Avendus Capital today partnered with private equity fund Zodius Capital to invest up to USD 500 million in late-stage technology companies.
The investments will be made in India-centric digital and SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) companies in late stage or before an initial public offering over the next three-four years, a statement said.
The fund, to be called as Zodius Capital II, follows an earlier fund called Zodius Capital I which is focused on early-stage investments, it said.
The new fund will focus exclusively on the technology sector for a shorter investment period of up to two years, it said, adding that investments will be done in three tranches of up to USD 150 million each.

Courtesy its focus on investing in companies from which it can exit soon, it is also offering a shorter investment cycle of under seven years for the investors as against the normal practice of over ten years.
"We have joined hands at a time when digital and SMAC businesses across the world are eliciting exceptional and rightly deserved investment interest," Avendus' co-founder Ranu Vohra said.
Avendus is entering the partnership through its subsidiary Alternate Asset Management.
Zodius, which typically 'develops' one company every six months, has previously invested in companies like Group FMG, ZyFin, Antuit and Enki Professional, the statement said.