Jungle Ventures’s New Funding Program Commits $2 M Minimum Investment to Pre-Seed and Seed Stage Startups

Singapore’s Jungle Ventures has announced the launch of First Cheque@Jungle, a new program aimed at investing in startups during their pre-seed and seed stages. First Cheque@Jungle is designed as a bespoke program targeting operators and innovators at the idea stage and those seeking support in their pre-seed and seed stages. 

The First Cheque program plans to leverage the expertise of experienced founders from Jungle Ventures’ current and former portfolio startups. This approach aims to provide early-stage companies with valuable operating insights and support for critical aspects such as product-market fit and team building. 

The involvement of prominent entrepreneurs like Ramakant Sharma of Livspace, Sayali Karanjkar of PaySense, and Cameron Priest of TradeGecko is being highlighted for nurturing exceptional teams with bold ideas.

Jungle Ventures’ First Cheque@Jungle stands out with its two fundamental principles. First, it focuses on a select group of outstanding teams with visionary concepts at any given time.

Second, the program offers an initial investment without imposing minimum ownership criteria. These core concepts set First Cheque apart as it aims to provide exceptional access to the extensive business-building experience offered by Jungle Ventures‘ partners. 

The firm’s partners have over 20 years of operational experience in the region, have collaborated with more than 45 founders spanning various sectors, and have contributed to generating over $12 billion in enterprise value, with a remarkable $2.9 billion in follow-on capital raised.

First, Cheque@Jungle takes a pioneering approach to early-stage investments with a unique capital allocation structure, ensuring that startups can access appropriately sized funding while minimizing early-stage equity dilution. 

Each selected startup will receive a minimum investment of $2 million, divided into two equal portions: 50% as an equity investment and the remaining 50% as a no-cap convertible note. 

Its fundraising endeavors culminated in May 2022 when Jungle Ventures closed its fourth fund with $600 million. This figure exceeded its initial fundraising target of $350 million by a large margin. Amit Anand, a partner at Jungle Ventures, revealed that the funding for First Cheque will be drawn from Jungle Ventures’ most recent fund. Furthermore, the program embraces a sector-agnostic approach, indicating its willingness to support startups across various industries in India and Southeast Asia. 

Additionally, First Cheque@Jungle plans to lead or co-lead Series A funding rounds, with investment amounts ranging from $5 million to $10 million per company. This initiative marks a strategic move to facilitate startups’ growth beyond the early stages, ensuring they have access to essential capital for sustained development and expansion.

Jungle Ventures, established by Anurag Srivastava and Amit Anand, commenced its journey with a $10 million first fund in 2012. Over the years, it has consistently grown in size and impact. The firm secured $100 million for its second fund in 2016 and then raised $240 million for its third fund in 2019. 

Notable companies within its portfolio include Turtlemint, an insurtech platform, Leap, an edtech company, BetterPlace, specializing in blue-collar workforce management, CityMall, a social commerce platform, and Atomberg, a consumer appliances startup. 

Additionally, in August, the firm expanded its influence in the healthcare sector across India and Southeast Asia by absorbing the early-stage VC firm HealthXCapital.

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