Lightspeed to raise dedicated India venture fund

The vehicle was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. Previous India investments by Lightspeed have been made via its global fund. The firm reached a final close on its 10th flagship fund in March of last year, raising $950 million.

Lightspeed typically targets pre-Series A stage investments in technology start-ups across sectors such as mobile, consumer, e-commerce, media, big data, software-as-a-service, and cloud solutions.

Its India portfolio includes: budget hotel marketplace Oyo Rooms, which raised $25 million in March; social discovery platform Lime Road, which raised a $30 million Series C round the same months; and handicraft marketplace Craftsvilla, which raised $18 million in April.

Lightspeed has offices in Silicon Valley, India, Israel, and China, where its affiliate - Lightspeed China Partners - is currently investing out its second China fund, which reached a final close of $260 million last June.

Indian venture capital has seen an uptick in fundraising activity recently with a number of VC firms currently in the market, including Helion Venture Partners which is seeking around $300 million for its fourth fund.

There have also been several fund closes. Nexus Venture Partners recently closed its fourth India venture capital fund at $304 million and raised a further $130 million for a later-stage top-up fund. Accel Partners closed its fourth India fund at $305 million in March, while last year Sequoia Capital raised $530 million for its fourth country vehicle, which can also make investments in Southeast Asia.

 

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Technology
• India
• Fundraising
• Lightspeed Venture Partners
• Venture
• TMT
• Technology