India's Lightbox raises $54m top-up fund

The move comes just over two years after the GP closed its second fund at $100 million in October 2014, beating the $90 million target. All the capital came from overseas investors such as endowments, fund-of-funds and family offices. The Lightbox team spun out from a joint venture between KPCB and Sherpalo Ventures, raising its first fund to buy six positions from the JV.

The top-up fund will back a handful of current investees that are embarking on growth funding rounds. These include online food-ordering platform Faasos, automobile trading and services marketplace Droom, online jewelry retailer Melorra, furniture rental platform Furlenco, and test preparation business Embibe.

"We are not trying to add tons of companies to our portfolio. We will continue to be deeply engaged with them, support them and be operationally involved. We expect it to be in the 8-10 companies range," Sandeep Murthy, a partner at Lightbox, told The Economic Times. "We really felt that if we can carry these businesses further, build them bigger, and if we can participate further, in their upside and growth, it will be useful."

Top-up funds have become prevalent in Asia in recent years, notably in China, although they vary in purpose. While an annex fund is specifically for follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies, other overage funds have the license to pursue separate later-stage deals as well.

In India, Nexus Venture Partners closed its third fund in 2012 at $270 million and then two years later raised $110 million for a top-up fund. The VC firm's fourth vehicle, which achieved a final close in late 2015, is worth $450 million, comprising a core fund plus a dedicated entity for later-stage investments.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Venture
• Fundraising
• Technology
• GPs
• India
• Lightbox
• TMT