After closing three successful funds and amidst negotiation of the first close of its fourth India-focused fund, Chirate Ventures is all set to float a separate seed fund of about $35 million.
While the primary focus of the new fund will be on early-stage startups, the 13-year-old firm will continue to back Series A to late-stage companies via Chiratae.
As per the latest report, the VC firm would focus on investing in between $500,000 and $1 million to get exposure to high-growth emerging sectors at initial stages.
Formerly known as IDG Venture, Chiratae had launched its first fund of $150 million in 2007. In 2013, it closed its second fund at $95 million whereas $208 million worth third fund in 2017.
With a sharp focus on sectors such as health tech, software/ SaaS and fintech and consumer media and technology, Chiratae has invested in over 75 ventures, including Myntra, Nestaway, Bounce. Cure.fit and Early Salary.
Currently, Chiratae has $470 million in total assets under its management and looking to raise another $150 million for the first close of Fund IV, which may see final close at $275 million. The firm has already got a commitment from existing backers including IFC, SIDBI and some LPs.
Apart from pure-play early-stage investors such as Blume, Orios, India Quotient, Stellaris, and recently launched Good Capital, regular VC firms including Accel Partners, Sequoia, SAIF and Lightspeed Venture Partners have set their eye on backing early-stage startups.
Some also run separate programmes to find out promising ventures. Sequoia has been running accelerator – Surge for that purpose. Under the programme, it plans to recruit 10-12 such startups in two cohorts in a year and invest $1.5 million in each. It also launched a separate seed fund for Indian startups,
This development was first reported by ET.
