Capfort Ventures sets up Rs 200 crore fund to back 40 impact startups in India

“We are confident in our ability to identify ground-breaking tech startups and guide them towards sustainable growth,” said Abhimanyu Bisht, General Partner, CapFort Ventures.

As angel investors, Bisht and Sutariya have invested in over 200 startups, including the likes of Reshamandi, Chqbook, Melorra, Ketto, FarEye, Pidge, Zingbus and TrueMeds.

“As the third-largest startup economy, India has demonstrated the potential to be a superpower in innovation and profitability. With the launch of our Rs 200 crore tech-focused fund, we are excited to be part of this journey of skyrocketing growth and evolution,” said Kavit Sutariya, General Partner, CapFort Ventures.

With the new fund, CapFort Ventures has joined the likes of Blume Ventures, Epiq Capital, Good Capital and Avaana Capital, who have raised fresh India-dedicated funds over the last few months, adding more dry-powder for startup investments in the country.

Since last year, some of the larger VCs such as Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV), Accel India and Matrix Partners India have also replenished their funds, but the deployment of an estimated $16 billion worth of dry powder is yet to gain pace as global uncertainty prevails and fragility of startup finances stand exposed.

In the first half of 2023 i.e. January to June, Indian startups suffered their worst funding period in four years, with venture capital investments barely touching the $4 billion mark. That’s nearly five times lower than the $18.4 billion secured during the same period in 2022.

In fact, June 2023 recorded the lowest funding levels since August 2020—a 34-month low.