Early Stage VC Firm First Cheque Closes $5 Mn Fund To Back 50 Pre-Seed Startups

Mumbai-based early-stage VC fund, First Cheque has closed its second fund after raising $5 Mn (INR 38 Cr). 

The sector-agnostic fund will write off cheques for $100K to 50 pre-seed startups in the next 18 months. It will also focus on startups led by first-time entrepreneurs. 

With the closure of the second fund, First Cheque’s asset under management (AUM) has grown to INR 90 Cr. 

“We are looking to back founders with less emphasis on conventional prerequisites. In our investment decision, ‘founder market fit’ will take precedence over these factors. We believe that India needs more seed-stage institutional capital and mentorship, which we aim to provide via founder community, dedicated program, and a network of seasoned investors and venture partners,” Prateek Agarwal, Investment Lead at First Cheque, said. 

First Cheque is also looking to roll out an in-house program, featuring founders, sector experts and venture capitalists that will share their experience and facilitate in the creation of GTM strategy, hiring and retention, monetisation and fundraising activities.

Founded in 2018, First Cheque is currently working closely with more than 50 venture partners including founders, product managers, community managers, sector experts and growth managers to build its portfolio. It primarily focuses on startups that are working in SaaS, edtech, hrtech, fintech, spacetech, gaming, web3 and cleantech, among others. 

For the first fund, First Cheque worked with over 20 venture partners and consequently, added about 100 startups to its portfolio including Fashinza, Giva, Rocketlane, Fleetx, Wint Wealth, Rigi, Global Fair, Drink Prime and Bellatrix Aerospace. 

Meanwhile, it has also bagged deals with 50 large enterprises such as AWS, Cloudflare, and MongoDb, according to the statement.

Additionally, it is looking to onboard more venture partners that will help connect the second fund with student startups that are working in various colleges.

According to the Inc42 report, in the first half of 2022, a total of 78 funds were launched that cumulatively raised over $12.3 Bn. Of this, VCs such as Sequoia, General Atlantic, Elevation Capital, and Accel, among others accounted for the largest share in the corresponding period. 

Besides, a host of private equity funds, government-led funds, debt funds, CVC funds, angel funds and accelerator funds were also launched in the first half of 2022. 

Different funds including Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd making the first closure of its ninth fund, Sequoia India and Sequoia Southeast Asia closing its $2.85 Bn fund, and 9Unicorns making the fifth closure of a $100 Mn fund are some of the recent fund closures that took place recently.