By Lynda Kiernan
Atlanta, Georgia-based Mantra Capital announced it has floated a $60 million fund dedicated to investing in tech startups in both India and in the U.S. focused on food and agriculture, the circular economy, and healthcare, among other verticals.
Launched only in the first days of 2020, Mantra Capital was co-founded by Jay Krishna, former CEO of Hyderabad-based startup incubator T-Hub; Srikanth Chintalapati, the former director of operations at CASHe and COO at Aeries Technology Group; and Kevin Jacobs, the former vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Eqip.
The early stage venture capital fund has also announced it has already secured $24 million in capital to invest through Seed and Series A investments of approximately $1 million in deep tech startups leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI, machine learning, blockchain, photonics, and robotics to improve the standard of living.
The fund is set for an eight-year span, with capital being deployed over the first four years, and plans to make approximately eight investments per year. Follow-on rounds will be taken into consideration on a company-by-company basis.
“Mantra Capital will be keen to invest in startups in sectors like foodtech and agritech that use technologies and processes that significantly impact humankind and are operationally intensive,” said Chintalapati. “So far, there have been very few innovations in the agriculture space, which forms the biggest chunk of the market. But we are seeing an influx of good quality startups that are creating solutions.”
Under its mandate, the fund will scale up startups by leveraging its strategic network of global partnerships with investors, and its industry and market experience.
The fund will also be a provider of offshore and managed venture services to global startups, and will target U.S. and Indian startups that it finds to be prime for corporate innovation and scaling programs set to commence in the second quarter of this year.
“We have taken a thematic approach wherein we invest in companies that use technology to improve what we eat, where we live and how we thrive. There are two parts to Mantra Capital — the venture capital fund and the venture services arm, where we provide services including help in design, marketing and manufacturing channel creation,” Jay Krishna told TechCircle.
The team has already begun scouring the Indian and U.S. markets for potential investment opportunities. Jacobs will oversee the U.S.-based deal flows, determining targets, managing M&As of the portfolio companies, and handling exits. Chintalapati will handle supporting the fund’s India-based companies with an eye toward product development, scaling, and distribution, and Krishna will head up deal flows in India from the fund’s base in Hyderabad, managing product management, building-out global partnerships, and assisting with business development for the fund’s portfolio companies.
“Mantra Capital’s fund will focus on scaling innovative solutions that have rapid acceleration potential and can solve problems locally with a massive global impact. We are uniquely positioned to execute this game plan and maximize returns to our investors,” said Krishna.
The team is expecting the fund to see a final close at $60 million by the end of 2020.
– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.
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