Thimmaya Poojary ( )
Homegrown venture capital firm has announced the final closure of its new growth fund at Rs 1,001 crore as it aims to invest in mature startups that are on the high growth path along with a clear path to profitability.
Called the Chiratae Growth Fund (CGF-1), the VC firm announced its first closure at Rs 759 crore in November last year. It had said the fund would primarily invest in those startups that are at the funding stage of Series C and beyond seeking growth capital.
“This is a good time to invest because valuations are attractive, but we will be selective with a higher standard,” said TC Meenakshi Sundaram, Founder and Vice-chairman, Chiratae Ventures.
As an early-stage VC firm, Chiratae manages over $1.1 billion in assets with a diversified portfolio cutting across sectors and on the theme of technology being the key enabler for a startup’s business. The Growth Fund will invest not only in its portfolio companies, but also in those outside of it.
Sundaram said CGF-1 will invest in about 12-15 companies, with investment in the range of Rs 50-150 crore in each firm. It has already made the first growth led investment of Rs 100 crore in Lenskart. Other leading names in its portfolio include Bizongo, Curefit, FirstCry, Myntra, and PolicyBazaar, among others.
“We will be participating in those companies that are looking to raise money for growth and not for survival. They will be the ones which are profitable or very close to profitability,” Sundaram said.
According to the VC firm, the growth fund saw an oversubscription of 34% as its target was to raise Rs 750 crore. The investors in this fund included Pratithi (family office of Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder, Infosys), 57 Stars (a global alternative asset manager), Manish Choksi (Vice Chairman and non-executive board member of Asian Paints) and his Family Office, and new investors including State Bank of India, India Infoline Limited (IIFL), Axis Bank, and others.
Founded in 2006, Chiratae Ventures, across six funds, has $1.1 billion assets under management with 130 plus investments, 48 exits, 8 Unicorns, 3 IPOs, and a track record of having returned capital to the investors in each of the last 12 years.
