Lightspeed sets aside $500m for India, SEA startups from $7b global fund

Lightspeed Venture Partners, a VC firm based in the US, has rolled out a US$500 million early-stage fund committed to India and Southeast Asia.

The Lightspeed India team / Photo credit: Lightspeed Venture Partners

Called Lightspeed India Partners Fund IV (LSIP Fund IV), the investment vehicle is part of a US$7 billion global pool that the company has raised to back early- and growth-stage startups.

“From our early-stage fund, we lead seed to series B rounds in tech-driven startups. Our check size ranges from US$100,000 up to US$15 million, depending on the company, the opportunity, and its stage of evolution,” Rahul Taneja, partner at Lightspeed India, told Tech in Asia.

The company’s previous Lightspeed India Partners Fund III, which was closed in 2020, was US$275 million in size.

The Silicon Valley-based fund has invested in several prominent startups in India and Southeast Asia such as Energy Exchange, Oyo, Byju’s, Grab, Acko, Razorpay, Udaan, and ShareChat.

Aside from investing in early-stage startups from LSIP Fund IV, Lightspeed will continue to back growth-stage companies in India and Southeast Asia from its Select and Opportunity investment vehicles.

“Over the past five years, the firm’s presence has expanded to 28 professionals across four locations of Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, and Singapore, representing one of the largest venture advisory teams in the region,” said the VC in a statement.

See also: A list of SEA’s unicorns and their early investors (Updated)

Several other global VC firms have closed exclusive funds for India and Southeast Asia this year. While Sequoia Capital raised US$2.9 billion dedicated to the two regions, Accel announced a US$650 million fund for Indian and Southeast Asian startups.