Axis Asset Management Company, a branch of the private sector lender axis Bank, has raised around Rs 400 crore through the first bandh of Axis Development Pathways AIF-I, aiming to fund ideas with deep technology as their USP. The asset management company aims to raise a total of Rs 1,000 crore through closed-ended funds, including a greenshoe option of Rs 500 crore. It is confident of completing the entire fundraising this quarter based on investor feedback and commitments.

The fund has funded family offices, high net worth individuals (HNI) and non-resident Indians (NRIThe fund will primarily invest in medium to late stage technology-enabled companies with scalable business models and favorable risk-return profiles. The sector-agnostic fund will invest in companies meeting latent demands with multi-year growth potential and differentiated business models.

Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I will explore primary and secondary investment opportunities with a proposed portfolio size of eight to 10 companies, with deal sizes ranging from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore.

AMC has a strong pipeline of investments and is expected to start deploying funds from AIF soon. “The strong response we are receiving for Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I reflects the confidence of investors and partners as well as the potential of this segment. It will be our endeavor to ensure that we channel this money into those companies. Deploy that offer exciting long-term growth opportunities and align with our investment philosophy,” said Chandresh Nigam, Chief Executive Officer, Axis AMC.

The total fund tenure will be five years from its final closure and can be extended for two additional periods of one year. AIF seeks to capitalize on innovation and growth in the economy and invest in companies that benefit from these trends. It will primarily focus on investments in fintech, technology, ecommerce and edtech.