Indian early-stage VC closes second fund at $4.8m

Early-stage VC firm First Cheque has closed its second fund at 380 million rupees (around US$4.8 million) to invest in 50 startups within the next 18 months.

First Cheque investment lead Prateek Agarwal / Photo credit: First Cheque

The India-based firm will focus on first-time founders in the country, with a standard process of investing US$100,000 at US$2 million valuations.

First Cheque aims to be the earliest source of capital for startups by investing at the pre-seed stage. It also has a sector-agnostic approach with its fund, and it aims to streamline the capital deployment process to less than 30 days from initial discussions.

The closure of this second fund brings First Cheque’s total assets under management to US$11.3 million. Its first fund used to operate as an AngelList syndicate, which had invested in more than 100 startups in the last three years. Among the companies it backed include apparel manufacturer Fashinza, fintech firm Wint Wealth, and spacetech company Bellatrix Aerospace.

Prateek Agarwal, investment lead at First Cheque, said that the firm is looking to support aspirational founders, putting less emphasis on factors like their educational pedigree, previous founding experience, and conviction from other VC firms and instead focusing on what it calls “founder-market fit.”

“We believe that India needs more seed-stage institutional capital and mentorship, which we aim to provide via our founder community, dedicated program, and a network of seasoned investors and venture partners,” he added.

See also: These are the most active investors in India’s startups

Currency converted from Indian rupee to US dollar: US$1 = 79.91 rupees.