Canbank Venture Capital Fund

Check the fit first

• The firm calls itself a growth venture capital fund, so it is most relevant if your product is already in the market and growing, not at idea stage. - Its portfolio is mostly Indian B2B technology, health and supply chain companies. - If you build electronics, semiconductor or hardware products, the Electronics Development Fund route is for fund managers, not for direct startup applications. ## How to approach them

• Write to the role inbox on the contact page or use the message form on the site. There is no pitch portal. - The site says nothing on what a first note should contain. A short summary of what you build, your traction and what you are raising is a reasonable start. - No reply time is stated, so send one clear message rather than several. ## Know what is not published

• Cheque size per company, decision process and timelines are not on the site, so ask in your first conversation. - Fund status changes. Ask which fund would invest and whether it is still making new investments.

Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd (CVCFL) is a venture capital fund manager based in Bengaluru. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canara Bank and says it is one of the earliest venture capital management companies in India. It launched Canbank Venture Capital Fund in 1989 and describes itself on its website as an India-centric growth capital fund. ## What it invests in

CVCFL describes its funds as growth venture capital. It says it invests in businesses with an established technological or market positioning edge and good growth potential, and that its team takes a hands-on, operational approach to building businesses. On the home page it also says it looks for founders who think creatively and strategically, then act quickly. It does not state a sector limit. Its chart of past investments across six funds spans many areas, with IT and IT-enabled services, auto ancillary, industrial products and health care among the larger slices, alongside chemicals, clinical research, packaging, electronics and others. ## Funds it has run

The funds page lists seven vehicles. The Emerging India Growth Fund, the fifth, is described as a general domestic fund with a broad base of sectors and a focus on SME units, and is in divestment mode. The Empower India Fund launched in 2019 with Canara Bank and other financial institutions and insurers, and is described as being in the last leg of its investments. A seventh fund, Samridh Bharath Fund, has announced a first close. Canara Bank is the anchor investor in these funds, with other public sector banks, financial institutions and insurance companies contributing. CVCFL is also the investment manager of the Electronics Development Fund, a fund of funds set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. That fund invests in daughter funds, such as venture, angel and seed funds, that back companies in electronics, nano-electronics and IT. It is aimed at fund managers rather than at startups directly. ## Portfolio

The portfolio page names startups such as CoRover (conversational AI), Zyla Health (care management), Koovers (B2B auto spares, later acquired by Schaeffler), Faclon Labs (IoT platform), Renalyx (renal care and hemodialysis), Settlrs (B2B rental marketplace), Intugine (supply chain visibility), Effigo (procurement software), Biddano (healthcare supply chain) and Cross Identity (identity and access security). QubeHealth, a healthcare payments company, is also listed. Most are Indian B2B technology and health companies. ## How to reach them

The contact page gives a postal address in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru, a phone number, a role inbox on the firm's own domain, and a message form asking for name, phone, email, subject and message. It invites you to get in touch for details. The site does not publish an application process, an intake window, eligibility rules or a response time, so treat the first message as an introduction rather than a formal application. ## Who runs it

The site lists a managing director, a senior executive vice president and a small investment and administration team, with a board drawn from Canara Bank. Advisors to the fund include the HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry, who sits on its investment committee.