CDC Group Plc, the UK-based development finance institution, said Friday it has committed $10 million (around Rs 75 crore) to the fourth fund of venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures.
Srinivasan Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia at CDC, said the proposed investment is part of its strategy to back technology-enabled businesses that can address development challenges in sectors such as food and agriculture, healthcare and education.
The proposed investment falls under CDC's South Asia Venture Scale-up programme that aims to invest in early-stage companies leveraging technology.
Notably, CDC’s commitment to Chiratae’s fund comes after its Limited Partner-style (LP) investments in India fell about 30% during 2019 even as direct investment portfolio in India grew three times.
Globally, CDC’s approach since 2012 has been to focus more on direct investments across both equity and debt, Nagarajan told VCCircle recently.
Formerly known as IDG Ventures India, Chiratae invests in companies across seed, early and expansion stages.
Last year, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) had said it planned to commit $20 million (around Rs 144 crore) in Chiratae’s fourth fund.
The venture capital firm has invested in more than 80 companies in sectors such as health-technology, fin-tech and consumer media. Its portfolio includes companies such as Bounce, Curefit, FirstCry, Forus, Lenskart, Manthan, Myntra and Flipkart.
Earlier this week, VCCircle reported that Chiratae Ventures had led a seed investment in a Pune-based startup that is engaged in bioprocess technology.