Caret Capital: the sustainability fund betting on mobility, supply chains and jobs

Few Indian funds wear their mission on their sleeve as openly as Caret Capital. This sustainability-focused thematic fund — earlier known as Supply Chain Labs — invests in category-building startups across three sectors it considers fundamental to India's growth story: Smart Mobility, Distribution & Supply Chain and Jobs. Together, the firm estimates these represent a $1.2 trillion opportunity by 2030.

The investment mandate is clearly defined: Caret writes cheques of up to ₹15 crore ($2 million) in seed to Series A rounds. On mobility, it backs solutions that improve accessibility and cut emissions; on distribution, technologies that modernise logistics, warehousing and last-mile delivery; and on jobs, platforms driving employment, skilling and workforce empowerment across urban and rural India. The mission targets are unusually specific for a VC: 10 million jobs created, 10 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions reduced, and a materially more efficient Indian supply chain — tracked alongside startup growth and investor returns.

The firm is led by Managing Partner Prajakt Raut, and its investment committee is chaired by Manoj Kohli, the former Country Head of SoftBank India and former MD & CEO of Airtel, with 45 years across telecom, manufacturing, renewable energy and digital technology. For founders, that is serious operating depth on the other side of the table — particularly on go-to-market and scale.

Caret's most founder-facing asset is the Caret360 Accelerator, a 100-day outcome-focused programme for early-stage startups launched in May 2024. Selected startups receive investment of up to ₹3 crore plus deeply engaged mentoring from industry leaders and access to Caret's community of CXOs from some of India's largest corporations. Selection is brutally competitive — roughly 1% of applicants make it — and past cohorts such as Celcius Logistics and Just Deliveries went on to raise follow-on capital from Caret and other marquee VCs. The accelerator covers all three thesis areas: smart mobility, distribution and supply chain, and employment.

The portfolio is broad and thematic. Mobility and logistics names include Celcius, Just Deliveries, Conmove, Citrus Freight, Tusker, SuperProcure, eveez and Vahak; supply-chain and distribution plays include Omnivio, Xindus, Spareshub, Freightify and rosh.ai; employment and skilling plays include Unstop, Awign and Traqcheck. Recent led rounds include a ₹12 crore raise for PeakAmp and a ₹10 crore round for Arthum. The firm's "Supported By" roster — including Bajaj Auto, TCIL, VTrans and Lumax — hints at the corporate customer access founders can expect.

One caveat: Caret's overall fund size is not publicly disclosed, so founders should focus on the verified cheque range and the accelerator programme rather than fund-level numbers.