Chiratae Ventures, Speciale Invest and Stride Ventures were awarded as among the leading Venture Capital investors in India for 2023 as part of Venture Intelligence APEX‘24 Private Equity & Venture Capital awards event in Mumbai.
The Venture Intelligence “Awards for Private Equity Excellence” (APEX) is dedicated to celebrating the best that the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital industry has to offer. The APEX Awardees are selected based on both Self Nomination by the participating PE-VC firms and "crowd sourced" voting from the Limited Partner, PE-VC and advisory communities. (The main criteria are Return Track Record, New Fund Raises & Follow-on Funding Rounds for Portfolio Companies)
VC Investor of the Year
Chiratae Ventures received the Venture Capital Investor of the Year 2023 Award on the back of 10 part exits totaling $178 million via Secondary Sales during the year. Its exits included those from retail unicorn Lenskart, SaaS Startup Pixis and baby products retailer FirstCry. It also closed a $122 million growth fund during the year. Amish Dedhia, Principal - Growth and Exit, and Tanvi Dubey, Head- Marketing of Chiratae received the award on behalf of the firm.
Amish Dedhia (L) and Tanvi Dubey of Chiratae Ventures receiving VC Investor of the Year - 2023 Award from Puneet Vyas of Technology Holdings
"We are honoured to accept the VC Fund of the Year- 2023 Award, a significant acknowledgement of Chiratae Ventures' dedication to fostering innovation and growth within the Indian start-up ecosystem. We have witnessed milestone exits in 2023, and 12 years of consistently returning capital to investors showcases our ability to deliver sustained value to our stakeholders,” said Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman, Chiratae Ventures. “Venture Intelligence has been serving the VC industry for decades in an amazing manner. Thank you to Venture Intelligence for this award. Team Chiratae is privileged to receive this award,” he added.
Venture Debt Investor of the Year
Stride Ventures received the Venture Debt Investor of the Year 2023 Award on the back of a successful First Close, at $100 million, for its Fund III during the year. With an IRR of 22% from its Fund I, the firm is now investing from its Fund II tracking 21% IRR. Apoorva Sharma, Managing Partner, Stride Ventures received the award on behalf of the firm.
Apoorva Sharma of Stride Ventures receiving the Venture Debt Investor of the Year 2023 award from Piyush Bansal of Aditya Birla Ventures
"We are honoured to be recognized by Venture Intelligence as the Venture Debt Investor of the Year for the third consecutive year. Such esteemed acknowledgment reaffirms our mission towards empowering entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem with innovative and inclusive financial solutions." said Apoorva Sharma, Managing Partner, Stride Ventures.
Seed VC Investor of the Year
Speciale Invest received the Seed VC Investor of the Year 2023 Award on the back of a part exit from spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos with a 28x return. The firm also made a Final Close, with $20 million, on the Speciale Invest Growth Fund I. Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner of Speciale, received the award on behalf of the firm.
Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner of Speciale (L) receiving Seed VC Investor of the Year - 2023 Award from Anil Goyal of Cap70 Angels
"We are deeply humbled to receive the Seed VC Investor of the Year 2023 Award. This recognition is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and vision of our team, portfolio companies, and investors,” said Vishesh Rajaram of Speciale Invest. “We are committed to continuing our mission of building deep-science & technologies from India for the world. Thank you to Venture Intelligence and the judging panel for this prestigious award," he added.
