Kae Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012, has invested in 90 companies to date. With a strong emphasis on partnering with start-ups in their early journey, Kae positions itself as the first investor in a venture. In an exclusive interaction with businessline, Gaurav Chaturvedi, General Partner at Kae Capital, says they have a strong preference to be involved with a company from the very beginning and stay with them for the long term.
The firm’s portfolio features notable names such as Tata 1mg (formerly 1mg, later acquired by Tata), Zetwerk, Porter, Healthkart, Nua, Traya, and Trulymadly. While Kae Capital is sector-agnostic, its current investment themes include manufacturing, premium domestic consumption, AI, and energy transition, among others.
What is your investment thesis?
Our investment thesis is built on two key pillars. First, we focus on a founder-first approach. Since we typically invest at a very early stage, our ‘North Star’ is our understanding of the founders. We partner with audacious and ambitious founders with unique insights into their domain.
Second, we adopt a team-focused perspective. We usually have some level of understanding about the team and the industry they operate in. Ultimately, our decisions come down to founder-market fit, meaning we evaluate whether the founding team is best positioned to solve the problem they are addressing and whether they have the strongest chance of success in that market.
What is your AUM? How many funds do you manage, and what are their sizes?
Kae Capital manages an AUM of $230 million across 3 seed funds and 2 opportunities funds.
Fund I: $25 million.
Fund II: $50 million.
Fund III: $96 million.
What is your average cheque size?
Our average cheque size ranges from $1 million to $2.5 million, with the sweet spot being around $1.5 million. At this level, we typically co-lead or lead pre-seed rounds.
Do you prefer to take a seat on the board?
We take board seats in most cases and remain actively involved until the company scales significantly. In the early stages, our role includes supporting founders with strategic planning, leveraging our network for connections and hiring and providing guidance on key challenges. We also play a critical role in governance, ensuring start-ups adopt sound practices and make strategic decisions. While we offer support as needed, we prioritise enabling founders to operate independently. As companies grow, our involvement shifts from strategic advisory in the early stages to ensuring fiduciary responsibilities are met in later stages.
How many exits have you had? What is your preferred exit route?
Kae Capitalhas had multiple profitable exits across Fund 1 and 2. Both funds are well-positioned to deliver substantial capital returns to our LPs.