Karthik Prabhakar to leave India's Chiratae Ventures
Karthik Prabhakar, who joined Chiratae Ventures – then IDG Ventures India – as a senior analyst in 2011 and rose to the level of managing director and head of global fundraising, has announced his departure from the firm.
Prabhakar said in an email that he felt “privileged to have had the opportunity to lead many initiatives across fundraising, investments, exits and org building to witness significant business growth at Chiratae.” However, he has decided to move on “to pursue an entrepreneurial journey.”
Having got a first taste of the firm as an intern, Prabhakar’s debut solo lead investment was in PlaySimple – a gaming studio with one game and USD 500,000 in revenue – in 2014. Chiratae paid USD 500,000 for a 13% stake, re-upped with another USD 800,000 in 2016, and exited last year with a 43x return when Sweden’s Modern Times Group bought the company for USD 360m.
He was elevated to partner level in 2016 on becoming a director at the firm and made managing director last year. Other investors where he took the lead role include Blowhorn, EarlySalary, Living Consumer, LetsVenture, NestAway, and PlayShifu.
Chiratae’s investment team is headed by five partners: co-founders Sudhir Sethi and T.C.M. Sudaram, who serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, and Prabhakar, Venkatesh Peddi, and Ranjith Menon. Another, Karan Mohla, joined B Capital Group earlier this year as a partner.
The firm closed its fourth fund on USD 337m in August 2021. It is now looking to raise USD 500m for Fund V plus USD 200m for an accompanying opportunity vehicle.
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