Unitus And Capria To Operate Under Single Brand, Eyes Early To Growth Stage Bets

Venture capital (VC) firm Unitus Ventures is teaming up with its US affiliate, Capria Ventures, to operate under a single global brand, Capria Ventures, with a unified strategy.

The VC firm said the transition to the Capria brand will bring more resources, including capital and global expertise from other Global South markets.

Under the Capria brand, the firm will increase its investment focus on India. This alignment will result in a unified portfolio strategy for Capria across various stages of investment in India.

In addition to its early-stage investments, the firm will now expand its focus to include early growth stage startups across fintech, HR tech, edtech, agritech, climate, and SaaS.

In recent times, Capria has invested in 10 gen AI startups, and it intends to back over 30 additional gen AI startups. These investments will be made in entrepreneurial hubs in India and other regions of the Global South.

“We’re Global South specialists who invested through the mobile revolution and now see gen AI as an even bigger opportunity for the Global South. We started embracing gen AI shortly after the release of ChatGPT. Going forward, more than 75% of our investments will be placed in applied gen AI companies. We are also confident that Unitus Ventures’ alignment with the Capria brand and strategy will create more value for founders,” Will Poole, managing partner of Capria Ventures, said.

Capria will continue its investments within the leading emerging tech hubs in the Global South, such as Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Founded in 2012 by Dave Richards, Will Poole, Unitus Ventures is a VC firm that has largely invested in early-stage startups so far, in domains such as, fintech, SaaS and climatetech.

Earlier this year, Unitus Ventures raised over INR 75 Cr, marking the first close of its INR 300 Cr ($40 Mn) Opportunity Fund.

On the other hand, Capria Ventures is a global venture capital investment platform focused on early-growth startups in India, SE Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Capria has offices in Seattle, Bengaluru, Nairobi and Washington DC.

Capria Ventures also marked the first close of its target $100 Mn fund earlier this year to focus on investing in 20-25 tech startups across India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

VC, angel and PE investors have announced 52 funds worth more than $3.8 Bn so far this year to support Indian startups at various stages. According to Inc42 data, 38% (or 20 funds) of the total funds announced this year focus solely on early-stage startups.