•  Campus Fund launches $100M Fund III to back student and college dropout-led startups.
•   Plans to invest in 60–80 early-stage ventures over the next four years.
•   Backed by 360 One, Fireside Ventures, HDFC Securities, and other marquee investors.

Campus Fund, the sole SEBI-registered Category II AIF focused on student-led and recent college dropout startups, has raised its third and largest fund so far   a $100 million corpus to drive grassroots innovation. The company has already crossed the first close, raising more than 50% of the target, and has started investing in early-stage businesses.

Started in 2020 by MBA student and entrepreneur Richa Bajpai at London Business School, Campus Fund started off as a thesis venture and now is a full-grown institutional venture platform. Its mission: democratizing access to startup capital and empowering young, unorthodox founders throughout India.

“With Fund III, we’re reaffirming our belief that student founders aren’t just dreamers   they’re builders,” said Bajpai. “India’s next unicorn could very well be brewing in a college dorm in Bhopal or a garage in Surat.”

Investing in Dorm-Room Dreams

Campus Fund's strategy is different in India's VC landscape. It targets explicitly those founders who are still in college, dropped out of college recently, or graduated three years ago   a radical departure from the usual VC preference for experienced entrepreneurs from top schools.

Fund III plans to invest in 60–80 startups in the next four years, with cheque sizes between Rs1 crore and Rs 8 crore. Fifty percent of the fund will be used for follow-on investments. Two early bets have already been placed, including an investment in Serendipity Space, a startup working in pharma manufacturing in microgravity.

Campus Fund annually receives more than 7,000 startup applications, which are scouted and screened nationwide via a network of over 100 student scouts.

Read More News :

Elevation Capital makes fourth partial exit from ixigo

Govt Rolls Out Rs 2.3 Crore Start-Up Challenge to Spark Rooftop Solar & Green Energy Innovation