Chiratae Ventures raises Rs 1001 Cr as final close for growth fund

Homegrown venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures 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, with a clear plan to profitability.

The VC firm had announced its first closure of the Chiratae Growth Fund (CGF-1), at Rs 759 crore, in November last year. It had said the fund would primarily invest in startups 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 a diverse portfolio cutting across sectors, with technology being the key enabler for a startup’s business. The new growth fund will invest not only in its portfolio companies but also those outside the portfolio.

Sundaram said CGF-1 will invest in 12-15 companies, with Rs 50 crore - Rs 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, Cure.fit, FirstCry, Myntra, and PolicyBazaar.

“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), and Manish Choksi (Vice Chairman and non-executive board member of Asian Paints) and his family office. There were also new investors including State Bank of India, India Infoline Limited, and Axis Bank.

Founded in 2006, Chiratae Ventures has $1.1 billion assets under management, across six funds. According to the company, it has been involved with over 130 investments, 48 exits, 8 unicorns, and 3 IPOs, and has a track record of having returned capital to investors in each of the last 12 years.