Chiratae Ventures Rolls Out 3rd Cohort Of Its Seed Investment Programme

Bengaluru-based VC firm Chiratae Ventures, which has backed companies like Flipkart, Lenskart and Policybazaar, has announced the third cohort of its flagship seed investment programme Chiratae Sonic.

The programme targets early stage startups operating in sectors like deep tech, generative AI, climate tech and manufacturing tech and looking to raise up to $2 Mn in funding.

As per the VC firm, the initiative guarantees a 48-hour turnaround time on seed fund pitches for investments of up to $500,000.

Applications for the 2024 edition of Sonic opened today (August 21) and will close on October 31. 

Chiratae Ventures further said in a statement that under the third cohort of its Sonic programme, selected startups will get exclusive partner benefits, including cloud credits from Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, business mentorship and technical support to scale their businesses.

“Additionally, startups will tap into the Chiratae portfolio, offering them opportunities for collaboration and strategic partnerships with some of the most innovative companies in the industry. Beyond this, they will be connected to a vast network of seasoned industry experts and mentors, who will provide invaluable guidance on everything from product development to market strategy, ensuring that these startups are not just funded, but set up for long-term success,” it added.

“Sonic is an initiative to deepen our engagement with the next wave of founders building frontier technology platforms defining the global economy in the next decade,” said Ranjith Menon, managing director of Chiratae Ventures.

Founded by Sudhir Sethi and TC Meenakshisundaram in 2006, Chiratae Ventures is one of India’s oldest early-stage funds that has invested in 130+ startups, of which 8 have turned unicorn and 3 have gone public via an IPO. Some of its early bets include names such as Myntra, MyGlamm and GlobalBees.

It is pertinent to note that Chiratae Ventures first launched its Sonic programme in 2021 to  accelerate and democratise the fundraising process for early stage founders. Startups selected for the 2021 Sonic cohort include BeepKart, Claimbuddy, Emitrr, HexaHealth, Metadome and LocaleAI among others.  

The 2022 cohort of the Sonic initiative accepted startups like Artium Academy, Emitrr, Frinks AI, Lightbulb.ai and Skye Air. 

Chiratae Ventures has supported 20 startups in seed to pre-Series A stages via its previous Sonic cohorts, which cumulatively raised $25 Mn in funding.