CDC commits $10m to India’s Chiratae

The vehicle has a target of $275-300 million. It comes four years after Chiratae raised $225 million for Fund III plus a $17 million sidecar. The investment strategy is unchanged. The firm will continue to back fast-growing technology-enabled companies in India, primarily participating in early-stage rounds. There will be selective investments in seed and growth deals.

Founded in 2006, Chiratae claims to have managed more than $775 million in capital over the years. It has investments in more than 85 start-ups and witnessed 35 exits. The firm was initially founded by Sudhir Sethi (pictured), T.C.M. Sundaram, and Manik Arora as IDG Ventures India. It rebranded and adopted the current name formally in 2018. The word Chiratae means "leopard" in a number of south Indian languages.

There have been 11 investments so far this year. Notable portfolio companies include eyewear platform Lenskart, health and fitness community Cure.fit, insurance comparison portal PolicyBazaar and FirstCry, an online store for baby products.

Chiratae has nine investment professionals. It is headquartered in Bengaluru and requires these individuals to work for at least 18 months in the city before being dispatched to offices in New Delhi or Mumbai.

“Committing to Chiratae is part of our strategy to back tech-enabled businesses that have the potential to address development challenges in sectors such as food and agriculture, healthcare, and education to reduce costs, improve market access and economic participation,” said Srini Nagarajan, head of Asia at CDC Group. 

CDC committed capital from its South Asia venture scale-up program, which seeks exposure to early-stage companies that leverage technology and innovative business models to reduce costs for goods and services.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Technology
• LPs
• India
• CDC Group
• Chiratae Ventures
• TMT