Bessemer Venture Partners announces first India-focused fund
Bessemer Venture Partners will back early stage companies from India from its maiden $220 million fund
US-headquartered has announced its first India-dedicated fund of $220 million. The fund which deployed capital from its global fund in India previously, will back early-stage companies from the India fund, investing in seed and Series A rounds.
Bessemer Venture Partners India has also announced the appointment of Nithin Kaimal as chief operating officer of its Bengaluru office set up in 2006. Prior to this role, Nithin served as Co-Founder of investment management firm VixCap. He has also served as senior director at IndiaRF where he worked on the investment strategy to acquire distressed assets.
Other team members for its India operations include Anant Vidur Puri and Vishal Gupta who are partners in the firm and investor Mohammad Ibrahim Faruqi.
Adding new verticals to its focus on consumer internet, enterprise and healthcare sectors, the India fund will also focus on social commerce, vertical and global Software-as-a-Service and cloud software.
“We’ve always had a global investment approach and India has long been a focus for us. This new capital allows us to go deeper in the market, while continuing to support our portfolio with Bessemer’s global network and resources. The dedicated fund exemplifies our confidence in the massive growth opportunities within India,” said Vishal Gupta, Partner and Managing Director of the firm’s Bangalore office in a statement.
In its earlier avatar, Bessemer has made multi-stage investments in India including IPO-bound e-pharmacy player , Tata-backed grocery platform , food delivery major and home services platform , apart from others.
The fund announced investments in corporate health insurance platform Nova Benefits and HR tech startup, LeenaAI around September. Investments by the fund in Indian companies went through a lull as the fund saw senior leadership churn in 2018.
Recently early stage venture capital fund Blume announced the first close of its $200 million fund four, maintaining the investment momentum for early stage companies in the country.