American VCs willing to support Silicon Valley Bank in the event of capitalisation

A group of US based venture capital firms met on Friday to discuss the situation around Silicon Valley Bank which shutdown by US regulators on Friday. The funds issued a joint statement mentioning their banking relationship with the lender and concerns over the recent developments. 

“Silicon Valley Bank has been a trusted and long-time partner to the venture capital industry and our founders. For forty years, it has been an important platform that played a pivotal role in serving the startup community and supporting the innovation economy in the US," the funds said in a statement.

Representatives from Accel, Altimeter Capital, B Capital Group, General Catalyst, Gil Capital, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital and Upfront Venture were present at the meeting held on Friday.

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"The events that unfolded over the past 48 hours have been deeply disappointing and concerning. In the event that SVB were to be purchased and appropriately capitalized (sic), we would be strongly supportive and encourage our portfolio companies to resume their banking relationship with them," a statement by Meyer ‘Micky’ Malka, Managing Director of Ribbit Capital read.

Several venture capital funds have significant investments in India through their India as well as global funds. 

On Friday, multiple venture capital and private equity firms issued advisory to portfolio startups asking them to move funds from their accounts at SVB as the bank lost 60% market capitalisation following an announcement to sell $1.75 billion worth of shares to bolster finances. 

This included a sizable number of Indian startups, especially those with US registered entities. It also includes a large number of Indian companies operating in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector selling to US customers. 

The move by SVB is likely to impact liquidity for all startups which had accounts with the bank with multiple companies saying that meeting payroll and other expenses will be a challenge till the issue is resolved.