British International Investment

Unitary Fund

IndiaSouth AsiaBusiness and consumer servicesFinancial servicesManufacturingTechnology and telecoms

Arkam Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in highly scalable, technology-driven companies that are serving the mass market in India.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

This investment is part of our strategy to (i) support the local entrepreneurial ecosystem in our markets in order to build new businesses which create jobs, and; (ii) provide us access to early-stage companies that have the potential to create transformational impact at scale.

Our investment in Arkam Ventures will go towards supporting the growth of scalable tech businesses which are driving access to goods and services, as well as innovation leading to economic growth.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact
  • Create economic opportunities for suppliers and employees (SDG 8.5).
  • Improve access to goods and services for consumers in India in some of our priority sectors (SDG 3.8 and 4.4).

How?

Primary Secondary

Our investment will help create direct jobs through the fund's investments in businesses in fintech, healthtech and edtech. This will increase the access and affordability of these products and services for consumers in India.

Our investment will benefit the wider B2B sectors' development in these markets.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Employees

India

Workers with varying income levels including some blue-collar.
Customers and suppliers

India

Underserved borrowers or investors, medium and small enterprises owners, smallholder farmers as well as healthcare and education institutions.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

With our investment and over the fund's life, we expect 5,000 jobs to be created, more than a million customers reached and about 50,000 fifty MSMEs supported.

Variable depending on previous employment status and on urban / rural location.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: The commercial market does not offer capital in sufficient quantities to meet the company s need.
  • Value additionality: We will help improve impact, business integrity and environmental and social practices

Grid score

Grid Score

To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score.

1.9 - 2.1

Risk

Execution Risk
  • The impact case relies on the fund's ability to fundraise and deploy capital to achieve scale; and deliver exits and attractive financial returns which would result in both job creation and market development for end consumers.
Alignment Risk
  • The impact case relies as well on the fund's ability to identify businesses that are a good fit with our impact objectives.

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We agreed with the fund manager to develop an ESG management system and associated training.

Environmental and social risk

Low

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    December 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D5104
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    South Asia
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Business and consumer services, Financial services, Manufacturing, Technology and telecoms

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    January 2022
    Amount :
    $10m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Fund manager:
    Unitary Investment Management LLP
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    India

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.arkamvc.com/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
BestDoc Technology Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2020 Active
Binocs Labs Private Limited (Binocs) India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2022 Active
Changejar Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2021 Active
Cusmat Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms December 2022 Active
Draftspotting Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms December 2021 Active
Finnov Private Limited (KreditBee) India South Asia Technology and telecoms October 2020 Active
Fourdegreewater Capital Private Limited (WintWealth) India South Asia Technology and telecoms December 2021 Active
Greenizon Agritech Consultancy Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms August 2020 Active
Intelligent Acumen Technologies Pvt Ltd (Fyno) India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2022 Active
Invact Inc India South Asia Technology and telecoms June 2023 Active
Jumbotail Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms August 2020 Active
Karkhana India South Asia Business and consumer services December 2023 Active
Leancrop Technology Solutions Private Limited (BharatAgri) India South Asia Business and consumer services October 2023 Active
Qikwork Services Private Limited (Qikwork) India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2021 Active
Signzy Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Financial services October 2020 Active
Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited India South Asia Manufacturing September 2024 Active
Smallcase Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms October 2020 Active
SMPL Technologies Private Limited India South Asia Technology and telecoms April 2022 Active
Trential India South Asia Technology and telecoms September 2023 Active

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