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Mumbai-based Asha Ventures has raised $50 million to mark the first close of its new fund Asha Ventures Fund I. The venture capital firm aims to raise a total of $100 million to invest in companies targeting the middle class across sectors including financial services, agriculture, healthcare, education and climate.

The firm will focus on making early growth-stage investments. The fund has received commitments from reputed domestic institutions including Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Self-Reliant India Fund, a private sector bank as well as family offices, it said in a statement.

Led by Vikram Gandhi, Pramod Bhasin, Amit Mehta and Aditi Gupta, Asha Ventures has made notable investments in edtech firms Avanti and Adda247 and healthcare startup Truemeds, among others.

Asha Ventures has already made commitments for its first investment and aims to back four to five companies every year to realise a vision of fostering a “sustainable and inclusive India”, it noted.

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“We believe this is the perfect time for technology-led inclusive funding models to be built in India and to fund businesses that are solving for key needs around financial inclusion, healthcare and employability,” Pramod Bhasin, Founding Partner at Asha Ventures, said.

S Ramann, Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI, said, “India’s emerging middle class of 500 million people requires innovative solutions to get access to equitable opportunity. Startups are a key driver of this innovation. Asha Ventures has been a pioneer in catalysing domestic capital to back such startups in the inclusion and sustainability space.”