Cedar-IBSi Capital Wraps Up 60% Of INR 175 Cr Maiden Fund

Fintech-focused venture capital firm Cedar-IBSi Capital claims to have closed 60% of its maiden INR 175 Cr ($20 Mn) fund, mopping up INR 100 Cr (around $11 Mn) so far.

The VC firm further said that other investors have pledged INR 10-15 Cr towards the investment vehicle. The fund aims to invest in 15-20 startups catering to the B2B fintech ecosystem.

Cedar-IBSi Capital said in a statement that it would participate in Pre-Series A and Series A rounds as part of its debut institutional round. Initial ticket sizes will range from $500K to $1 Mn, and reserves have been set aside for follow-on investments. The fund, set to be deployed across five years, has already written cheques for Cogniquest and WonderLend Hubs.

The fund secured backing from the likes of Muthoot Finance, IIFL Capital and an undisclosed  royal family entity from the Middle East. Apar Industries, Varroc Engineering, the Taparia family and Dr. Reddy’s family office, among others, were also among the participants.

“We will mark our final close sometime in January (next year). Despite a challenging fundraising environment for emerging managers globally, our sector-specialist expertise and sharp B2B fintech focus have helped attract Tier-1 LP capital in India and internationally,” said Sahil Anand, founder and managing partner at Cedar-IBSi Capital. 

Founded in 2024 by Sahil Anand, Cedar-IBSi Capital is the VC arm of management consulting firm Cedar and fintech market intelligence platform IBS Intelligence. It aims to back entities operating in the B2B fintech infrastructure space, building software for the global banking sector. 

The fund marked its first close in March last year. 

Unpacking Cedar-IBSi Capital’s Funding Strategy

Even as there is a boom in the B2C fintech space but that is not the area Cedar-IBSi is targeting. In an interaction with Inc42 last year, Anand said that the B2C fintech space was highly competitive; moreover, it had a high customer acquisition cost (CAC). This space would include all the customer-facing UPI apps, lending platforms, insurance aggregators or online stock brokers. 

B2B fintech startups are entities that build software for the BFSI sector, such as Perfios, M2P and Credgenics, among others. Anand shared in the interaction that the B2B fintech space has much better economics. 

Investor Optimism Soars In Fintech Sector

For years, fintech has been among the most funded sectors in the Indian startup ecosystem. 

According to Inc42’s ‘State Of Indian Fintech Report H1 2025, Infocus: AI Rewiring India’s Lending Playbook,’ states that funding in the sector increased by 60% to $1.6 Bn in H1 2025 as compared to $1 Bn in the year-ago period. Out of this, fintech SaaS startups have taken a decent 18% share of the total funding.

The fintech SaaS space in India is projected to grow to $34 Bn by 2030 and is gaining popularity among investors. 

IIFL Fintech Fund, another fintech-focused investment vehicle, marked the final close of its INR 200 Cr fund in January this year.