Auraska Ventures to Raise Rs 500 Cr AIF

Mumbai, Apr 15 (PTI) Auraska Ventures on Wednesday announced that it is aiming to raise a Rs 500-crore alternative investment fund (AIF) focused on the 'cultural economy', comprising sports, media, entertainment, gaming and fashion.

It is already in touch with high-net-worth individuals for raising the corpus, and getting Sebi approvals for the Category II AIF will take up to four months from now, founder and chief executive Vishal Mahajan said, adding that deployments will start immediately after the regulatory nod.

Auraska, which pitches as a platform which also offers advisory venture-building services, will invest a third of the AIF in consumer brands backed by celebrities, while intellectual property-driven platforms will also be a focus, he said.


Claiming that there is no dedicated investment vehicle for the sector at present, Mahajan said the focus will be on sports in the IP-led businesses front. New sports like badminton and volleyball are getting leagues of their own, like the Indian Premier League (IPL) for cricket, he added.

The AIF will invest in both equity and high-yielding debt, Mahajan said, adding that it is targeting an internal rate of return of over 25 per cent.

The average investment size will be between Rs 10-30 crore, and it is looking to take up to 20 bets as part of the fund, he said, adding that the money will be deployed in two years.

Mahajan said he sees huge opportunities in this sector, and the platform will follow up with the second and third fund offerings to invest up to USD 1 billion in the chosen sectors over the next eight years.