PMS fund Piper Serica launches angel fund for investing in startups

Mumbai-based PMS fund Piper Serica Advisors today announced the launch of its Category-1 Angel Fund to invest in early-stage companies that are using technology to either disrupt or significantly improve industries and processes.

The current fund size is capped at Rs 100 crore with a small green shoe option.

The fund will make 30-40 investments over the next 3 years.

“Piper Serica’s Angel fund mainly focuses on start-ups with exponential growth models. The fund aims to be a seed-to-IPO fund and will stay with its winners for a period of up to 10 years and to reduce the risk of high mortality,” the PMS said in a statement.

The fund will use its proprietary AI ML-based tool called Yoda.ai to screen investment opportunities.

This tool uses 17 parameters to predict the probability of success and then selects the company with a score of 70 per cent or above for further diligence. This is the first AIF being raised by Piper Serica and it plans to raise a series of AIFs over the coming years.

“HNI investors should definitely allocate a portion of their equity portfolio to start-ups with the objective of making high returns over a long holding period. At the same time, investing in start-ups is fraught with risks. Therefore, it is better to invest through a well-managed fund,” Abhay Aggarwal, Founder and Fund manager, Piper Serica said.