Chiratae Ventures, a leading technology-focused early-stage venture capital fund, has closed its first financing, which will be earmarked for growth-stage portfolios. Chiratae Ventures Growth Fund – I (CGF-I) has been oversubscribed by Rs 759 crore. Chiratae plans to complete the final closure of the fund by December 2022.

Chiratae Growth Fund – I will invest in growth rounds of leading tech startups inside and outside their portfolio. It will be an industry-agnostic fund to support the growth and expansion of tech companies. The fund aims to invest in 15-20 companies. It will focus primarily on startups that have raised between $5 million and $20 million in Series C funding.

“This is one of the fastest fundraising events we’ve seen,” said TC Meenakshi Sundaram, founder and vice-chairman of Chiratae Ventures, which started fundraising 3-4 months ago. “We are oversubscribed and hope to get it done by the end of the year.”

This is the first growth fund raised by Chiratae Ventures. The fund includes the family office of Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, the Choksi family office (founder of Asian Paints), domestic institutional investors such as SBI and IIFL Wealth and Asset Management, as well as existing global investors and key LPs.

Chiratae Ventures has raised five early-stage funds and manages $1.1 billion in assets under management (AUM). It was an early backer of technology-led companies like Bizongo, Curefit, Firstcry, Lenskart, Myntra, and PolicyBazaar.
Chiratae closed its fourth fund, oversubscribed by $337 million in 2021. Over the years, the team has created value for its investors through more than 45 exits, 3 IPOs, and eight unicorns.

Regarding the impact of the uncertain macroeconomic environment and funding winter on tech companies and startups, Sundaram said metrics related to funding and valuations are adjusting. “There was a time when people would rely on growth at all costs to make money,” Sundaram said. “Now it’s earnings growth, and every additional revenue unit should reduce losses and turn into profits.”

Fireside Ventures, another early-stage venture capital fund investing in digital-first consumer brands, recently said it had closed the third fund for Rs 1,830 crore ($225 million). This is double the size of its previous fund of Rs 863 crore compared to Rs 350 crore in the first fund. Fireside Fund III is backed by new and existing Indian and global investors, including Bootstrap India Fund, Dubai Investments, SBI, Premji Invest, Waterfield – Fund of Funds, ITC Limited, Emami Limited, Sharrp Ventures and several startup founders.