Following the underwhelming market performance of some high-flying startups in 2022 and amid a global tech sector rout, investors may be beginning to feel more at ease with the valuations of Indian technology companies.
Nexus Venture Partners, an Indian venture capital (VC) firm, is reportedly in talks to raise a $700M fund to support Indian and US-based tech startups.
Within two months, Nexus will close its seventh fund, according to sources cited in a Reuters report. As a result, its asset under management (AUM) will surpass $2B.
Support for Indian and US startups
The upcoming fund will support early-stage Indian internet and technology startups. Additionally, it will assist US-based software firms.
This comes nearly a month after Nexus led a $4.3M seed funding round for B2B marketplace Covvalent which saw participation from Zetwerk’s Vishal Chaudhary, Livspace’s Ramakant Sharma, BlackBuck’s Rajesh Yabaji, MSD’s Rehan Khan, Rupifi’s Jawaid Iqbal, Anubhav & Ankit Singh, and Meghmani Group’s Kaushal Soparkar.
Nexus, founded in 2006 by Naren Gupta, Sandeep Singhal, and Suvir Sujan, primarily invests in US and Indian-based tech startups. Its investors include global pension funds, family offices, and endowment funds.
Naren Gupta, who co-founded Nexus, previously owned and operated a software business in the US for 15 years before selling it to Intel. One of India’s most well-known venture capitalists, Gupta, passed away in 2021.
Sandeep Singhal, a second co-founder, left the company in 2021. Suvir Sujan, a third co-founder and a former executive at PayPal and eBay India, is currently one of the company’s managing directors.
Global pension funds, billionaire family offices, and endowment funds are a few of Nexus’ current investors. Without naming any specific investors, one of the sources claimed that endowments have responded favourably to the new fund.
The new funds, which will be the largest funds raised in India since Sequoia’s $2.85B fund in mid-2022, will be invested by Nexus in early funding rounds for Indian internet and technology startups as well as US-based software companies, Reuters quoted sources as saying.
In the midst of a global tech crash, investors are becoming wary of exorbitant valuations; Indian digital services firms Paytm and Zomato have fallen sharply since their market debuts in 2021.
Image credits: vitanovski/Depositphotos