Lightspeed closes India focused Fund III at $275 Mn

US-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has marked the close of its third India-focused fund at $275 million. The previous two India funds were closed by the firm at $135 million and $175 million in 2015 and 2018 respectively. 

Out of the total latest corpus, more than 80% would be utilized to back seed and Series A stage firms in India from the last quarter of the ongoing financial year.

“Lightspeed will continue to focus on early stages of innovation, and work with founders to support them through their growth lifecycle – including the growth capital pool of over $3 billion raised recently in its global funds,” said the VC firm in a press statement.

Having made more than 800 investments and helping over 400 companies globally since its inception in 2000, Lightspeed claims to have invested over $750 million in India. Its portfolio local companies include B2B e-commerce marketplace Udaan, HR tech startup Darwinbox, Zetwerk, ThoughtSpot, Magicpin, and Freight Tiger, among others. 

Lightspeed currently controls $10.5 billion assets under management with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. 

Moreover, the firm has made over 18 exits of over $1 billion throughout its journey. It recently made partial exits from Indian decacorns -- Byju’s and Oyo -- with hefty returns. Its most recent bets include Magicpin, FrontRow, Setu, Rheo, and others.  

AngelList India, BEENEXT, and Sequoia are other VC firms that have launched their funds this year to back early-stage companies.