Sistema Asia Capital, the venture capital firm sponsored by diversified Russia-based conglomerate Sistema, is looking to raise $150m to $175m for its next Sistema Asia Fund, the Economic Times reported today.
The firm was formed in 2015 and launched its first fund the same year. It eventually closed at $120m with contributions from external limited partners, a model Sistema Asia Capital plans to follow for the new vehicle.
Sistema Asia Fund concentrates on investments in enterprise technology developers and online consumer offerings spanning a diverse range of areas from specialised e-commerce and travel to digital health, financial and educational-focused online offerings.
The fund generally supplies $3m to $5m per deal and has invested in approximately 11 companies according to ET, including online lending platform Lendingkart and virtual kitchen operator Rebel Foods.
Reports in August this year suggested the firm would seek $120m for the second fund. Sumit Jain, senior partner at Sistema Asia Fund Advisory, told ET: “It is a little early to talk about it, but we think we will do a slightly bigger fund next, potentially $150m up to $175m.
“We think that for the stage we operate in, and the size of opportunity we are looking at, actually warrants a slightly larger fund. And slightly larger cheque sizes, as we look at fresh deals from the new fund.”
The purported expansion of the second fund comes after Sistema Asia Fund exited online pharmacy NetMeds in August this year. It had previously scored an exit when gift card technology provider Pine Labs was acquired for $110m in March 2019.
