Seed-stage venture capital firm WEH Ventures has made the first close of its third fund, which has a target corpus of Rs 250 crore (around $26 million), as it expands its investment focus beyond software into areas such as advanced manufacturing, agriculture, energy transition, artificial intelligence and healthcare.
The first close has attracted capital from family offices, founders, and senior corporate and technology executives, the VC firm said in a statement on Tuesday. It didn't disclose the amount it secured at first close.
The limited partners include Nordic fund-of-funds Play Capital, family offices Eraya, Twin & Bull Investments and Heritage Investments, along with founders of companies such as Oziva and GS Labs. Senior executives from Thermax, Haleon, Lenovo and PNB MetLife, as well as Silicon Valley executives associated with Arlo and Intuitive Surgical, have also participated.
WEH Ventures expects to complete the final close of Fund III by mid-2027.
The fund will back 20-25 early-stage Indian startups that are addressing problems in India as well as global markets.
WEH Ventures said it has already begun deploying capital from Fund III and has committed money to eight companies across advanced agriculture, robotics, healthcare diagnostics, retail and edtech sectors.
Among the investments made through Fund III are Fragaria, which operates in advanced horticulture; Praan Health, focused on fitness services and health products; and PlayBlue, a sports retail company.
The new vehicle builds on WEH Ventures’ earlier funds. The VC firm claimed that Fund I, launched in 2017 with a corpus of Rs 20 crore, has returned 1.4x capital, while Fund II, launched in 2020 with a target corpus of Rs 100 crore, has already returned capital following one exit and is tracking above top-quartile performance.
Since its inception, WEH Ventures has invested in more than 30 companies, including Smallcase, Jar, Pratilipi, Animall, MasterChow, AppsForBharat, Unbox Robotics and Mitigata.
