VC firm a16z plans to invest $500 million in Indian startups
This article comes fromTechCrunch, original author: Manish Singh
Odaily Translator |
This article comes from
, original author: Manish Singh
Odaily Translator |
Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which made its first investment in India last year, is looking to make a big bet in the world's second-largest internet market.
a16z has allocated about $500 million to support Indian startups, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It is reported that CoinSwitch Kuber, an encryption exchange headquartered in Bangalore, India, completed a US$260 million Series C financing last year at a valuation of US$1.9 billion, led by a16z and Coinbase Ventures. The venture capital firm is also currently seeking to recruit for multiple investment positions in India, people familiar with the matter said.
A number of a16z partners, including Seema Amble and Sumeet Singh, have approached several Indian startups in recent months, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous.
In January of this year, a16z issued a document announcing that it will raise a total of US$9 billion in 2021, including a US$1.5 billion Bio fund, a US$5 billion growth fund, a US$2.5 billion venture capital fund, a US$2.2 billion encryption fund, and a US$400 million seed fund.
a16z is exploring investing in an Indian startup that operates an opinion-sharing platform valued at about $250 million, a person familiar with the matter said. The VC firm has also approached a Bengaluru-based early-stage fintech company, another person familiar with the matter said.
We are "starting to see them getting more serious," said an investor in a top Indian fund.
If a16z goes ahead with this plan, it will become the latest high-profile investor to actively participate in the Indian market. India is home to 100 unicorns, and tech giants Google, Facebook and Amazon have collectively invested at least $20 billion in the country over the past decade.
a16z did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has been exploring markets such as India for years and has openly acknowledged the complexities of growing into new regions.
Six years ago, in a speech at Stanford Graduate School of Business, a16z co-founder and general partner Marc Andreessen said backing startups in emerging markets was “very attractive.” But expanding a venture capital fund to more countries is also challenging, he explained. Venture capital is a "very hands-on process of getting to know your partners, evaluating companies and working with companies."
"If it continues to be this hands-on business, then there's the issue of geographic remoteness, that is, if I'm not in another geographic location, do I really know the people making the decisions? So some companies have been Trying to staff the local team. But there is also a fundamental problem, if the local team is really good, then they can easily leave and run their own business. If they don't perform well, they will continue to work for me... …that is problematic in itself.”
With private market (and public market) valuations correcting more broadly, now would be a good time for a16z to seek out investments in India.
Over the past two years, dozens of firms including Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, B Capital, Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer, D1 and James Murdoch's Bodhi Tree (which has invested in India through Lupa) have accelerated their The pace of investment in India.
Several peers/competitors including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Accel, all operating in India for more than 10 years, have either raised capital for new country-specific funds or are in the process of raising capital in recent months.
