Cactus Venture Partners Raises INR 630 Cr for Health Tech and Climate Tech Investments

The firm plans to deploy this capital over the next two years, focusing on early-stage investments in health tech, climate tech, and B2B SaaS startups.

Cactus Venture Partners (CVP), a Mumbai-based venture capital firm, has announced the final close of its debut fund at INR 630 Cr (approximately $77 million).

The firm plans to deploy this capital over the next two years, focusing on early-stage investments in health tech, climate tech, and B2B SaaS startups.

The firm, co-founded by Anurag Goel, Amit Sharma, and Rajeev Kalambi, has garnered substantial backing from both international Limited Partners (LPs) and domestic financial institutions, including SIDBI, Self-Reliant India Fund (SRI Fund), and the UP Startup Fund.

In addition to these institutional supporters, the fund has received significant commitments from international and domestic family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs).

Strategic Focus on Early-Stage Startups

The CVP fund will target investments of $2-5 million in 8-10 startups, primarily focusing on Series A and early Series B fundraising stages. The firm intends to work closely with the founders to help scale their products and achieve market success.

Speaking about the firm's investment strategy, Amit Sharma emphasized the importance of product-market fit, noting, “The filtering criteria for us is not vertical; it’s Product-Market Fit (PMF). There should be decent gross margins, and the company must have cost levers in place to sustain through weaker markets.”

Currently, CVP's portfolio includes five startups—Kapture CRM, Vitraya, AMPM, Auric, Lohum, and Rubix—and an early exit from a fintech firm.

Sharma further revealed, "We are in the late stages of evaluating two companies and will most likely close them in the next three months. We are very actively investing this year and will continue to be cognizant of the quality."

Market Outlook & Future Projections

The closing of the fund comes as the venture capital industry is recovering from a slow 2023. Investment levels dropped significantly in 2023, with venture capital and private equity funding falling to $27.9 billion from $47.62 billion in 2022.

Early-stage funding saw the most substantial decline, with a 70% drop in funding. Despite these setbacks, industry experts expect a more favorable investment environment in 2024.

Cactus Venture Partners aims to help fill this funding gap by providing necessary capital to startups across sectors such as health tech, which has seen significant interest due to its growing market potential.