British International Investment

Pravega Ventures Fund I

IndiaSingaporeSouth AsiaCommunications & IT servicesConsumer - EducationConsumer - other servicesFinancial services

Pravega Ventures is an early-stage venture capital investor backing highly scalable, tech-enabled businesses in India, particularly in the fintech and enterprise spaces.

This investment was made when British International Investment was named CDC Group.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

CDC’s investment in Pravega underlines our commitment to supporting technology innovation geared towards leapfrogging consumer challenges pertaining to affordability and accessibility of essential goods and services in India, while creating large scale economic opportunities along the way.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Promote economic opportunities by creating jobs and enhancing access to more affordable goods and services for productive use (SDG 8.5, 1.4).

How?

How?

CDC’s commitment will support Pravega to invest in highly scalable early stage companies, Pravega can support their growth and large-scale employment creation, both directly and through the services they provide to other market stakeholders.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Suppliers, employees, consumers

India

Primarily low-income and middle-income

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Supporting the creation of an estimated 10,000 direct and indirect jobs over the lifetime of our investment.

The impact is likely to be deeper for low-income individuals accessing full-time employment. Full-time employment is expected to have a sustained impact on stakeholders’ livelihoods.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: The commercial market does not offer capital in sufficient quantities to meet the company s plans and needs.
  • Value additionality: We will help reduce execution risks and any negative impact risks by providing knowledge and advice on implementing environmental, social, governance (ESG) and business integrity standards and incorporating a risk-based approach to ESG for early-stage companies

Grid score

Grid Score

To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score.

1.7-2.4

Risk

Unexpected Impact Risk
  • The early-stage nature of the technology solutions developed by some of Pravega’s portfolio companies creates some uncertainties over the sustainability of the solutions and the extent to which these cut out existing intermediary businesses leading to some job losses elsewhere in the value chain.

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We will work closely with the fund manager to develop and implement an ESMS appropriate for the asset class.

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D3971
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
    :
    South Asia
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Communications & IT services, Consumer - Education, Consumer - other services, Financial services

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.
    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    March 2020
    Amount :
    $7m
    Currency of investment :
    INR
    Fund Manager:
    JSM Advisors Pvt Ltd
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    India

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.pravegavc.com/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
Algiz Consultancy Services Pvt Limited (Zipsure) India South Asia Financial services March 2018 Exited
Arthashastra Fintech Private Limited (ePayLater) India South Asia Financial services December 2020 Active
Chefkart Hospitality Private Limited India South Asia Consumer - other services June 2021 Active
Citizengage Solutions Private Limited India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2016 Exited
CreatorOS Inc India South Asia Communications & IT services December 2021 Active
Crofarm Agriproducts Private Limited India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2016 Active
Datasigns Technologies Private Limited (Shubhloans) India South Asia Financial services March 2017 Active
Digital Gold India Private Limited (Safegold) India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2019 Active
Flextechnologies Pte. Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2021 Active
Fyle Technologies Pvt Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2018 Active
Greyatom Edutech Private Limited India South Asia Consumer - Education March 2017 Exited
Ikarus Process Automation Pvt Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2016 Exited
InnovAccer Inc India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2016 Active
Komorebi Tech Solutions Private Limited (Cityflo) India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2019 Exited
Krab AI, Inc India South Asia Communications & IT services December 2021 Active
Leucine Inc India South Asia Communications & IT services December 2021 Active
Leucine Medtech Pvt Limited India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2020 Active
Mintoak Innovations Private Limited India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2020 Active
My Phygital Cafe Private Limited (Grubox) India South Asia Consumer - other services March 2017 Active
Ordenado Labs Pvt Ltd (Kaagaz) India South Asia Communications & IT services December 2020 Active
PropertyShare Online Platform Pvt Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2016 Active
Socionity Software Solutions Pvt Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services December 2020 Active
WorkEx Solutions and Services Pvt Ltd India South Asia Communications & IT services March 2017 Exited
Zealthlife Pte. Ltd Singapore Rest of the World Communications & IT services December 2021 Active

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