This article on the most active venture capital firms in India compiled by Inc42 Plus based on investments made between January 2014 and first half of 2020. It is not meant to be a ranking of any kind and is simply a list of venture investors that are the most active based on the deals announced. For more details on the early-stage funding scenario in India, check out The State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report 2020.
From a handful of noteworthy tech companies just over five years ago to thousands of innovative new ventures today, the Indian startup ecosystem has grown immensely in the last decade. So much so that the Indian government decided to introduce National Startup Awards in 2020 to recognise the efforts and contributions of thousands of entrepreneurs in bringing India to the digital world map.
But all this success was made possible due to the guidance and capital flow by angel investors, venture capitalists firms and other entrepreneurs who lend their hand in building early stage ventures. According to Inc42 Plus’ The State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report of 2020, $63 Bn was invested in the Indian startup ecosystem across 5400 deals between 2014 to H1 2020.
Nearly $5.2 Bn was invested across 389 deals in the first half of 2020, noticing a decline from the $7.4 Bn raised by Indian startups across 419 deals in the H2 of 2019. Overall, Indian startups had raised $12.7 Bn across 766 deals in 2019. As per the report, there are nearly 849 VC funds, 45 family funds, 44 angel networks and 2,751 angel investors investing in India.
Here are the most active VC firms in India, based on Inc42 Plus report:
- Sequoia Capital
Deals: 245
Notable Investments: BYJU’S, Bira91, OYO, Khatabook, Rupeek, Meesho, CRED
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, SeedSequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm, headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It is mainly focused on the technology industry. It is said to have assets worth $5.4 Bn under management in India, alone, spread across seven funds.
The VC firm also holds an accelerator programmed called the Surge to mentor and invest in companies across Southeast Asia, including India. Every six months, Sequoia shortlists 15 to 20 startups for each cohort and provides a capital investment of $1 Mn to $2 Mn with participation from other investors.
- Accel Partners
Deals: 232
Notable Investments: Freshworks, Swiggy, BlackBuck, Bounce, BookMyShow, Flipkart
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, SeedAccel Partners is an American Capital firm that works with startups in seed, early and growth-stages. The VC firm was founded in 1983 by Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz in Silicon Valley, and has invested in over 1,460 startups across the globe through its 29 funds. The company has also witnessed 297 successful exits.
In India, it has closed nearly six funds in India. The last one or the Fund VI was closed at $550 Mn, in December 2019, to invest in seed and early-stage Indian startups. In 2016, Accel had closed its $450 Mn fund through which it invested in ecommerce giant Flipkart and food aggregator Swiggy.
- Blume Ventures
Deals: 124
Notable Investments: Dunzo, Unacademy, Instamojo, Procol, HealthAssure, Milkbasket
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage Venture, SeedBlume Ventures is an early stage and seed stage tech-focused venture fund founded by Sanjay Nath and Karthik Reddy in 2010. The company launched its first micro-VC fund in 2011, becoming the first institutionalised early-stage investor at that time.
So far, the company has had nearly three other funds, the last one closing at $102 Mn in right before the pandemic hit India. The VC firm has nearly $225 Mn total capital under management, with investment in certain household names like Dunzo, Unacademy, Milkbasket, Yulu and LBB.
- SAIF Partners
Deals: 100
Notable Investments: Capital Float, Firstcry, Swiggy, IndustryBuying, Aye Finance, Rivigo, Cleartax
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Stage Agnostic, Private EquitySAIF Partners is a stage and sector agnostic private equity firm in Asia, which is said to have nearly $4 Bn in capital. The PE firm was started as a SoftBank Asia Infrastructure Fund in 2001 with a $400 Mn funding where SoftBank Group and Cisco Systems were the sole general partner and limited partner, respectively. Some of the previous SoftBank Asia Infrastructure started SAIF Partners in 2004 under its present name.
The PE firm has its offices in India, China and Hong Kong. In India, the SAIF Partner has offices in Bengaluru and Gurugram. The firm has also doubled down on its investments in Indian firms in 2020 to tap into new segments like edtech, healthtech enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS), entertainment and direct-to-consumer startups.
- Tiger Global Management
Deals: 97
Notable Investments: Urban Company, Flipkart, Moglix, OPEN, Ninjacart, Razorpay
Key Sectors: Internet, Software, Consumer, Financial Technology
Stage: Growth, Late Stage, Private Equity, Post- IPOTiger Global Management is an investment firm that deployed capital globally in both public and private markets. The company is said to have invested in nearly 442 companies across the globe with 7 designated funds. It has also witnessed 64 exits since its inception in 2001.
In India, the VC firm has invested in nearly 97 startups including Urban Company and Ninjakart. It had last invested $100 Mn along with other investors in payments gateway Razorpay, marking its entry into the unicorn club. In the first half of 2019, Tiger Global Management has invested nearly $300 Mn in India across 13 companies.
- Kalaari Capital
Deals: 92
Notable Investments: Cashkaro, Cure.fit, WinZO, Jumbotail, Milkbasket, Myntra, Snapdeal
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early StageKalaari Capital, founded in 2011 in Bengaluru, too focuses on technology-related companies in India. It has made nearly 92 investments across 3 funds, leading to nearly 15 exits from companies like Myntra and Snapdeal. It has also made a partial exit from Zivame.
The firm’s last fund closed in 2015 and mopped up nearly $290 Mn, which was the largest fund by an Indian VC at that time. The company is currently underway to raise its Fund IV of $200 Mn.
- Matrix Partners
Deals: 80
Notable Investments: Avail Finance, Vogo, DailyNinja, Stanza Living, MoEngage
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage Venture, SeedMatrix Partners is a US-based private equity firm focusing on venture capital investment across seed and early-stage companies. It was founded in 1977 by Paul J Ferri and is said to have nearly $4 Bn as asset under management (AUM). The company has invested in nearly 549 companies throughout the world with its second fund.
The PE firm has also noted 120 successful exits from companies like HubSpot and Oculus.The PE firm entered India back in 2006 under the leadership of general partners Avnish Bajaj and Rishi Navani. The company had closed its last India-focused fund at $300 Mn in January 2019, eight years after it raised its second fund.
- Nexus Venture Partners
Deals: 80
Notable Investments: WhiteHat Jr, Delhivery, Rapido, Unacademy, Druva, Jumbotail, Bolo App, Pratilipi, Zomato
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage Venture, SeedSilicon Valley and Mumbai-based VC Firm Nexus Venture Partners is said to have nearly $1.5 Bn in AUM. It was founded in 2006 by three former entrepreneurs— Silicon Valley-based Naren Gupta along with Mumbai-based Sandeep Singhal and Suvir Sujan. The firm makes investments in early-growth stage companies with an average ticket size of $500K-$10 Mn.
The company also participates in follow-on investment rounds at later stages. The firm had raised $100 Mn in its first fund, and closed its fifth fund at $450 Mn back in May 2019. Nexus Venture Partners successful exits include Gluster, Gitter, ElasticBox, MapMyIndia among others.
- India Angel Network
Deals: 80
Notable Investments: WebEngage, Wow! Momo, Druva, Box8, Faballey, Little Black Book
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage, SeedFounded in 2006, Indian Angel Network (IAN) is an angel network that brings together successful entrepreneurs and CEOs from across the world, including India, to invest in early-stage startups. IAN is a SEBI-registered early-stage fund with more than 470 investors from around 11 countries.
It aims at investing up to $1 Mn, with an average ticket size of about $400K-$600K, and exiting in a three-five year period through a strategic sale. It also runs a VC fund which has raised over $33.2 Mn since its inception in 2017.
- Omidyar Network India
Deals: 71
Notable Investments: Dailyhunt, Indifi Technologies, 1mg, Needslist, Bounce, Platzi, Pratilipi, Healthkart, Doubtnut, ZestMoney, WhiteHat Education Technology
Key Sectors: Agnostic
Stage: Early Stage, Seed StageOmidyar Network India is an investment firm focussed on social impact. The company looks to invest in startups that are helping to build more inclusive and equitable societies for the benefits of many. It also provides grants to nonprofits in the areas of digital identity, education, emerging tech, financial services and more.
Omidyar Network India was founded in 2004 and claims to have invested over $300 Mn into the Indian startup ecosystem. The company has also decided to invest an additional $350 Mn (INR 2486 Cr) in the upcoming five years. With this investment, the social impact investment firm also wants to target 500 Mn individuals, who have just started using smartphones.