A Global South specialist venture capital firm investing in applied Generative AI, Capria ventures is set to kick start a $100 million fund for India in the first half of 2024, said Surya Mantha, Managing partner, Capria Ventures. The significant move falls under the strategy of the company to boost investments in the region, especially in the early-stage startups which have integrates Gen AI (Generative artificial intelligence) as a fundamental part of their business approach & strategy.

Established by Dave Richards, Capria Ventures has offices in Seattle, Bengaluru, Nairobi, and Washington DC. Collectively, the venture acquires more than $1.25 billion in AUM (Assets Under Management). This developmental strategy of Capria ventures comes after the company closed investments worth over $20 million in previous year from its $100 million Global South fund II in regions including India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East & Africa.

Now, the India-focused funding capital will invest in diverse zone such as fintech, job-tech, & software-as-a-service edtech. On this regard, Mantha said, “We are launching our fully India-focused fund, a $100-million flagship fund, in the first half of 2024. The investments will flow into companies raising funds in seed and pre-series A rounds”.

Also, Mantha said that the power of Generative AI has been recognized to have a noteworthy impact in almost all the sectors, & investors are dynamically exploring for opportunities. “India is a big thrust area for us. We believe strongly that applied generative AI, in particular, will be critical to the long-term success of businesses in which we invest”, he added.

Speaking to the current funding environment, Mantha stated, “As you know, companies are going through the so called “funding winter”. Funds too will have to reckon with LPs (limited partner) who are questioning the investments they made at frothy valuations during the “zero cost of capital” period”.