Early stage venture capital firm Accel India Venture Fund has closed its second fund of $60 million (Rs292 crore) against its previous fund of $10 million. It is the first new venture fund announced since the market collapse two months ago.
The Bangalore-based firm, earlier known as Erasmic Venture Fund was acquired by Palo Alto, California-headquartered Accel Partners in July this year.
“The bar was high, but people are convinced that in the long run, they have to be in India,” says Prashanth Prakash, partner, Accel India. A majority of backers for its new fund come from Accel’s global network of limited partners (institutions that back equity funds) in the US, Europe and Asia. They are mostly institutional investors, unlike its previous fund which had several individual angel investors as LPs. Internet search firm Google Inc., which had backed the first fund is not a repeat investor this time. While Accel globally invests larger amounts, the India arm typically invests seed amounts preceding a series-A round, usually less than $1 million. It plans to maintain its focus on very early-stage companies in technology and tech-enabled services, media, lifesciences and consumer-focused areas. It is looking to invest the new fund across 25-30 companies in the next three years.
Accel India currently has four partners and an associate and plans to add 2-3 more executives.
Source: Livemint