Canada's Ryerson Futures & Chokhani Grp to launch $15 mn fund

Canada's Ryerson Futures Inc and Chokhani Group will launch a USD 15 million fund (about Rs 82.5 crore) to invest in early stage technology businesses in partnership with Zone Startups India (ZSI).
The fund will seek to invest between USD 50,000 (about Rs 27.5 lakh) and USD 500,000 (Rs 2.75 crore) in 10-15 start-ups every year, a statement said today.
The fund will make investments in highly scalable technology startups which are part of the ZSI and will also seek to find new startups to add to the programme, it added.
Chokhani Group has multiple businesses, including two non-banking financial companies, while Zone Startups India (ZSI) is an incubator focussed on data analytics, mobility, e-commerce and mobile payments, among others.

ZSI's current portfolio startups includes Focus Analytics, Bug Clipper, Baby Chakra, Pykih, FOSengage, DrugIO, Intugine Technologies, ArtZolo, Underdogs Gaming Studio and BOOKstreet, among others.
"We have been active making early stage investments and have seen tremendous interest in the market. Partnering with an existing accelerator allows us to leverage the benefits of a formalised programme," Anil Chokhani, who is also a serial angel investor with Mumbai Angels, said.

The fund will be raising capital from corporates and high net worth individuals.
"Launching a fund to help rapidly advance these startups is a logical next step now that we have been able to establish a strong network in India with our partners," Ryerson Futures President Matt Saunders said.

Ryerson Futures is an accelerator for early stage companies connected to the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University. RFI companies have raised over USD 22 million in the last year.