Mantra Capital launches $60M early-stage fund to invest in Indian, US startups
This cross-border venture capital fund seeks to invest in startups which have the potential to create deep impact solutions on society through technology
Mantra Capital, a cross-border early-stage venture capital fund, has launched its operations with a maiden fund of $60 million to invest in startups located in the US and India.
Founded by Jay Krishnan, Srikanth Chintalapati, and Kevin Jacobs, Mantra Capital follows the core investing theme of “deep tech for human good”. The VC fund will primarily invest at the Seed and pre-series A stage. The three specific themes of Mantra Capital will be: ‘What we eat’, ‘Where we live’ and ‘How we thrive.’
The founders of the VC fund felt there was a need for investments into startups, which have a deep impact on the society.
Mantra Capital Partners (from left): Jay Krishnan, Srikanth Chintalapathi and Kevin Jacobs
The ticket size of Mantra Capital’s investment will range from $0.5 million to $1 million, and the focus sectors will be food, agritech, healthtech. Besides, it will also look at startups, which leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, photonics, and robotics.
Mantra Capital has already raised $24 million out of its planned size of $60 million, and plans to close the fund by the end of this year.
Jay Krishnan, Partner, Mantra Capital, said, “We see the need to re-envision a new playbook for venture capital. We have leveraged the existing best practices to assist entrepreneurs. Mantra Capital’s fund will focus on scaling innovative solutions that have rapid acceleration potential and can solve problems locally with a massive global impact. We are uniquely positioned to execute this game plan and maximise returns to our investors.”
Given the cross-border intent of Mantra Capital, the VC fund will also act as a platform for increased collaboration of startups between India and the US.
Mantra Capital will provide offshore venture services and managed services to global startups. Also, venture services will scout and curate the US and Indian startups for corporate innovation scaling programmes that will be launched in the second quarter of 2020. Mantra Capital will be partnering with global corporates and global accelerators that will help startups’ Go-to-Market.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)
