India Innovation Fund, which focuses on early-stage investments, has invested an undisclosed amount in Pune-based Shantani Proteome Analytics Pvt Ltd, along with Blume Ventures.
Founded in 2010, Shantani is a biotechnology company, which develops technology applications for drug discovery organisations and also develops in-house drug discovery programmes in defined therapeutic areas. It also offers drug target identification, validation and mode of action studies services. The startup was incubated at the National Chemical Laboratories’ Venture Center in Pune.
“We have an innovative and exciting technology in the niche area of drug (target) discovery. However, to grow our business, we were not only looking for capital but the right partners with the understanding of technology-driven businesses and a strong network in life sciences to help take our startup to the next stage,†said Chaitanya Saxena, CEO of Shantani.
India Innovation Fund, formerly known as NASSCOM-ICICI Knowledge Park Innovation Fund, is a $25.3 million venture capital fund managed by IKP Investment Management Co. Pvt Ltd. It invests in automotive, infotronics & intelligent transport systems, telecom technologies, and drugs & pharmaceuticals, and invests between $0.12 million and $1.2 million in its portfolio companies.
The sponsors of the fund are Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Knowledge Park.
During the past two years, the fund has invested in three other companies including SEDEMAC Mechatronics Pvt Ltd, SureWaves Media Tech Pvt Ltd and Mitra Biotech Pvt Ltd.
“Shantani has developed a unique technology platform with significant benefits for drug design and development. We look forward to supporting the company through the IIF network,†said Rajesh Rai, CEO of India Innovation Fund.
Blume Ventures acts as a seed-stage investor and seeks to invest in data infrastructure, biotech, R&D, mobile application and consumer internet sectors. It typically invests $0.05 million-$0.25 million in seed round and $0.5 million-$1.5 million in later stages in its portfolio companies. Recently, it has invested in HashCube Technologies Pvt Ltd, along with the Indian Angel Network.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
