Google-backed VC invests in Kaati Zone

Erasmic Venture Fund, a venture capital fund backed by Google, has invested in Bangalore-based fast food chain Kaati Zone.

Kaati Zone is promoted by Kiran Nadkarni, widely considered the father of the Indian venture capital industry, having worked with TDICI in its formative years. The terms of Erasmic investment into Kaati Zone weren't disclosed.

Kaati Zone offers a range of quick-to-eat kaati rolls, a few other assortments in on-the-go format, besides a quick meal. Kaati Zone is famous for delivering rolls on geared bicycles, contributing their mite to keeping the city green. Kaati Zone has around five outlets in the city and is planning to expand with this fund. According to industry information, Nadkarni wants to take this chain to a few more Indian cities.

Erasmic Ventures is planning to put together a fund of $10 million to work with start-up companies in the cross-border (US/India) space, leveraging on its ability to build India-based delivery and US-based sales. Google, in addition to investing in this fund, has also become a limited partner in another early-stage fund "" SeedFund.

Erasmic focuses on investing around $100-500,000 in a venture at a pretty early stage of the idea and comes in with significant mentoring and hand-holding to the next level.

According to a statement from Erasmic: "Many venture funds have been actively scouting the Indian landscape for fundable deals in the past several months. Most of these funds would like to invest upwards of $2 million at a time. Number of companies that can take such a quantum of investment is limited in the Indian landscape."

The company further adds that there exists quite a nice eco-system of companies that need smaller amounts of capital but significant strategic inputs to move to the next step.

"The proposed fund will plug this gap, by picking a set of 4-6 companies where we invest small amounts of capital (between $100-500K each), and a lot of senior management time to mentor and build these companies out," the statement added.