Ex-BharatPe CBO Launches Early Stage VC Fund, Looks To Raise INR 50 Cr

Former BharatPe CBO Pratekk Agarwaal announced the launch of GrowthCap Ventures, a SEBI-registered category II alternative investment fund (AIF), to invest in 12-15 startups over the next two years.

Agarwaal is looking to raise INR 50 Cr for the fund to take early stage bets on Indian startups. 

In a statement, Pratekk Agarwaal said GrowthCap Ventures will look at seed to pre-Series A rounds, with a focus on fintech, SaaS and deeptech. The fund will invest $250K to $750K in each startup

The fund is expected to mark its first close within two months. 

GrowthCap said its strategy is focussed on backing founders with a tech-first approach and profound product insights. Eligibility for investment requires the product to have already demonstrated early traction and the potential for significant scalability.

GrowthCap also said it would offer a blend of operational expertise, advisory services and access to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) within the portfolio, along with network capital from mentors, operators and venture capitalists.

Agarwaal, also the founder and general partner of GrowthCap, has already invested in more than 35 startups, including Klub, Karmalife, Fundly.ai, TransBnk, EximPe, Threedots, Coffeee.io and Coverself, among others.

Pratekk Agarwaal CBO joins the growing ranks of former executives at the fintech giant moving on to start their own ventures. All of its founders, except Shashvat Nakrani, have moved on from BharatPe – Bhavik Koladiya launched OTPLess, joining as its CEO in January this year, while Ashneer Grover launched fantasy cricket platform CrickPe.

Recently, former BharatPe executives Nehul Malhotra, Rajat Jain and Geetanshu Singla founded Genwise, securing $3.5 Mn in seed funding earlier this year.

GrowthCap’s fund announcement also follows several startup funds being launched recently.

Earlier today, pi Ventures announced the final close of its second fund with a total commitment of INR 702 Cr ($85 Mn). Other recent fund announcements include Together Fund’s $150 Mn early stage fund, Blume Ventures’s Fund 1Y and 3one4 Capital’s $200 Mn early stage fund, Fund IV.

As per an Inc42 analysis, funds worth more than $3.6 Bn have already been announced, launched or closed by investors for Indian startups in 2023. Besides, investors also accumulated $18 Bn of dry in 2022. 

Despite this, Indian startup funding fell to $5.4 Bn in H1 2023, a decline of 72% year-on-year (YoY) and 10% from H2 2022, as per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report H1 2023’.