Covid-19 be damned, Asia’s top VC says it’s open for business

Covid-19 has brought many businesses to a standstill. But one of Asia’s most active venture capitalists says it’s still making investments and actively evaluating new deals.

“We are definitely open for business,” Abheek Anand, a Singapore-based managing director at Sequoia Capital India, tells Tech in Asia in an exclusive interview. “The world is not shutting down.”

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

By plowing money into businesses at a time when others are reluctant to sign checks, Sequoia is hoping to get ahead of the market. The venture capitalist hopes its investee companies will scale up and be ready to seize opportunities when markets recover to offer an exit.

“Sometimes, the best companies get created in tough times,” says Anand.

He thinks that early-stage companies are fairly valued, and he’s not necessarily looking for bargains. “The best companies always have access to capital, even in very tough times,” he observes.

Sequoia India continuously looks for “quality businesses in large markets” that are run by “exceptional” founders. “Such companies are always priced fairly.”

And just like many companies, Sequoia is making up for the inability to travel and meet startups personally during this time of lockdowns and enhanced quarantine measures by organizing virtual meetings and listening to startup pitches online.

Dealmaking is “happening full steam,” Anand says.

Sequoia was one of the top venture capital investors in the region this year. It participated in 34 capital raises of about US$3.4 billion through March this year, as shown in Tech in Asia’s analysis of publicly available funding data. Tencent was the biggest investor by value between January and March, joining in fundraises totalling US$3.7 billion. Sequoia Capital was second, with fundraises totalling US$3.36 billion.

Ranking based on number of deals in the first quarter. Source: Tech in Asia

Sequoia’s involvement in the first quarter of this year’s largest deals included Chinese online real estate broker Beike Zhaofang, gold-backed lender Rupeek, and bike rental startup Bounce. The VC firm also invested in Indonesian unicorn Gojek as well as Indian edtech companies such as Byju’s, InterviewBit, and Doubtnut.

First up, though, Anand wants to buy into companies that would likely benefit from the social distancing rules being implemented by governments around the world.

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