Caret Capital, a venture capital firm focused on sustainability, has made the first close of its second fund at INR 160 crore (about $18.7 million). The total target for the fund is INR 400 crore (around $46.75 million).
For its second investment fund, called Caret Capital Fund II, the venture capital (VC) firm has received money from Bajaj Auto, Transport Corporation of India (TCI), and a private non-profit organization based in the US.
Pankaj Bansal, co-founder and managing partner at Caret Capital, said the company plans to invest in 25 startups, giving each one around ₹12 to ₹15 crore on average.
Caret Capital also said in a statement that it had planned four investments from its second fund, but it didn’t share the names of the startups.
These investments include a subscription-based electric two-wheeler service for gig workers, a company that manages the life cycle of batteries, a startup that distributes livestock feed in rural India, and a software platform that uses AI to track carbon emissions in supply chains
Bansal also shared that the fund is targeting its final close by the end of this year. “Initially, we were expecting to close the fund by next year, but looking at the response from our investors, we are well on track to close it by this year-end itself.”
This update comes over a year after Caret Capital and Ev2 Ventures jointly announced the launch of their India-focused fund.
Caret Capital was started in 2020 by Bansal and Prajakt Raut. It’s an early-stage venture capital firm that focuses on investing in sustainability-related startups. Last year, when they launched the fund, Caret Capital also merged with Ev2 Ventures. Since then, the combined company has added several startups to its portfolio, including Celcius, Unstop, Traqcheck, EVeez, Awign, and Enmovil, among others.
The current fund is managed by Bansal, Raut, and Karan Mittal, who is a general partner at Ev2 Ventures.
The firm also runs a startup accelerator program that provides funding, practical support, and strong market connections to help early-stage startups grow.
This is happening as many VC and private equity (PE) firms are starting new funds to help the Indian startup ecosystem grow.
Earlier this year, Triton, a VC firm that focuses on early-stage startups, raised half of its second fund, reaching ₹120 crore out of a total ₹240 crore. This money will help grow B2B tech startups. Also, Mumbai-based investment firm A91 Partners announced it has fully closed its third fund with $665 million.
Read more- Philippine Government Teams Up with Tomorrow.io to Bring AI Weather Forecasting to Farmers
