Sequoia raises $2.85 bn for India, S-E Asia startups
NEW DELHI: Sequoia India and Sequoia South-East Asia have raised $2.85 billion across a set of funds—the venture capital firm’s largest fund for the region and more than double its previous fund—to invest in startups.
Sequoia is for the first time launching a dedicated South Asian fund, totalling $850 million, while $2 billion will be allocated to the Indian venture and growth funds, it said in a blog on Tuesday. According to the SEC filings and earlier fundraising announcements, this now takes Sequoia’s total committed capital in India and South-East Asia to $9 billion over the past 16 years.
Sequoia has been one of India’s most aggressive venture capital investors. Sequoia India has invested in more than 400 startups across India and SouthEast Asia, 36 of which are unicorns (valued at more than $1 billion), including Byju’s, Zomato, Unacademy, Pinelabs and Razorpay. In the last 18 months, nine firms it funded went public (through IPOs).
“This fundraise, which comes at a time when markets are starting to cool after a very long bull run, signals our deep commitment to the region and the faith our limited partners have in the long-term growth story of India and South-East Asia,” it said.
The new funds will bolster Sequoia’s mission to help “daring founders to build legendary companies from idea to IPO and beyond”. Stating that the region’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly in the last decade, it said last year India emerged as the third-largest startup hub in the world, after the US and China.
South-East Asia, meanwhile, is on track to become a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030, it said.
“The startup and venture capital ecosystem in India and South-East Asia has made great strides in the last decade and will continue to mature. Valuations and velocity will move with markets,” it said.
Sequoia India and South-East
Asia intend to “double down” on their efforts to help founders build healthy companies that will endure. “We are at an exciting juncture in India and SouthEast Asia, with ever-deepening markets, higher consumption power, supportive regulations and high talent density,” it said.
There’s a strong sense in the emerging economies and fastchanging societies across India and South-East Asia that ‘now is our time’.
Many large companies with regional or global footprints will emerge from this region in the decade to come, it said. “We remain committed to our mission to help founders build enduring companies.”
Of the $2.85 that Sequoia has raised, it will be deploying $2 billion across Indian startups—the largest-ever in venture capital funding for India. This corpus is larger than funds raised by Accel ($650 million) and Elevation Capital ($670 million).
Sequoia has been present in India for the past 16 years and in Southeast Asia for 10.
“The firm has partnered with more than 400 startups across multiple sectors, stages, and market cycles and has 36 unicorns in its portfolio. Between 2021-2022, the VC firm saw nine IPOs, with notable ones like Freshworks and Zomato,” it said in a separate statement.