Jungle Ventures launches program to shake up early-stage investing

Photo credit: Jungle Ventures

Jungle Ventures, a VC firm in India and Southeast Asia, has launched First Cheque@Jungle, a new program to support entrepreneurs at the idea, pre-seed, and seed stages. It also plans to lead or co-lead subsequent series A funding rounds.

The program gives access to the experience of building an early-stage business, along with the necessary mentorship, community, and resources.

Rishab Malik, partner for seed investments at Jungle Ventures, told Tech in Asia that the VC firm aims to address two key issues: founders that give up as much as 30% of their companies in seed rounds, and investors that use a one-size-fits-all approach for their accelerator, incubator, or cohort-based programs.

“Founders need one-to-one attention from key partners and stakeholders, want capital on favorable terms, and are looking for a long-term and meaningful capital partnership with their investors,” he added.

The sector-agnostic program offers a minimum of US$2 million investment in two parts: 50% in equity and 50% as a no-cap convertible note. This ensures companies do not give away too much equity right off the bat.

All funding done through First Cheque will come from Jungle Ventures’ US$600 million fund, which it closed last year.

First Cheque also involves venture builders from the firm’s portfolio companies, such as executives from Livspace, PaySense, and TradeGecko. These partners will work with Jungle Ventures to help early-stage firms achieve product-market fit as soon as possible.

According to Malik, the VC has applied this strategy for some past investees already, including Kredivo, Livspace, and Moglix.

First Cheque is just one of Jungle Ventures’ recent initiatives. Recently, HealthXCapital merged with the VC firm with an eye on healthcare-focused startups.

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