Accel has raised $650 million for its eighth India fund as the US venture firm expands its investment strategy in the South Asian market.
This new fund follows the company's seventh India fund secured in March 2022. Accel has backed companies such as e-commerce group Flipkart, food delivery platform Swiggy and software group Freshworks, and has established itself as India's most successful venture firm, with its first fund. playing a role. Institutional investors in portfolio companies.
The company wrote Flipkart's first institutional check at a post-money valuation of $4 million. The investment has since soared, and Flipkart is now valued at over $36 billion. Partner Anand Daniel led Swiggy's seed round at a pre-money valuation of $2 million. Swiggy went public in November at a valuation of $11.3 billion, becoming the biggest global technology IPO of 2024.
By 2022, the company's best-performing startups had a combined valuation of more than $100 billion.
The dynamics of startups in India have changed significantly since Accel first entered the scene more than a decade ago. A key change is an increase in the number of listings to address previous criticisms. TechCrunch previously reported that at least half a dozen Indian companies backed by Accel are planning to go public this year, including manufacturing platform Zetwerk and jeweler Bluestone.
“India is rapidly becoming a promising hub for high-tech IPOs due to its strong capital markets and thriving innovation ecosystem that continues to attract significant investor interest,” said Daniel (pictured above, left). He told TechCrunch in May.
Accel is also one of the few Silicon Valley investors that hasn't spun off its India arm, with rivals Sequoia and Matrix cutting ties with their respective India funds in recent years.
The company has recently deepened its focus on rural India, betting on the conventional wisdom that companies serving wealthy consumers in smaller cities and towns can achieve sustainable success. There is.