In India, venture capitalists are a crucial component of the startup ecosystem. The most crucial requirements for a business, once it has entered the development stage, are unquestionably the support of dependable investors and sufficient funds to scale it. Although the idea of starting up has gained popularity recently, businesses have had trouble finding enough investors who are prepared to put their money where their faith is. Approaching venture investors can be challenging for many entrepreneurs, and sometimes the investor’s investment structure is insufficient for the startup.
The list of the most active institutional investors and capital funds in India, along with information on their investment capacity, investment structure, investment industries, and some of their most illustrious portfolio companies, is therefore provided to you this week.
1. Helion Venture Partners
Helion Ventures Partners, a $605 million Indian-focused early to a mid-stage venture fund that participates in future rounds of financing through syndication with other venture partners, invests in technology-powered and consumer service firms.
People to Know: Kanwaljit Singh and Sandeep Fakun
Funding Structure: Invests between $2 Mn to $10 Mn in each company with less than $10 Mn in revenues.
Industries: Outsourcing, Internet, Retail Services, Mobile, Healthcare, Education, and Financial Services.
Startups Funded: Yepme, MakemyTrip, NetAmbit, Komli, TAXI For Sure, PubMatic.
2. Accel Partners
Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has offices in Palo Alto, London, New York, China, and India. Accel partners typically invest in internet technology businesses throughout several stages.
People to Know:Â Prashanth Prakash, Subrata Mitra, and Mahendran Balachandran
Funding Structure: Invests between $0.5 Mn and $50 Mn in its portfolio companies.
Industries: Cloud-Enabled Services, Internet and Consumer Services, Infrastructure, Mobile, and Software.
Startups Funded: Flipkart, BabyOye, Freshdesk, Book My Show, Zansaar, Probe, Myntra, CommonFloor.
3. Blume Ventures
Blume Venture Advisor, a venture capital firm, finances seed, early-stage firms, pre-series A, Series B, and late-stage investments. Blume actively mentors and supports companies while also providing cash for them.
People to Know:Â Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath.
Funding Structure:  Provides seed funding investments between $0.05 Mn – $0.3 Mn in the seed stage. Also, provides follow-on investments to portfolio companies ranging from $.5Mn to $1.5Mn.
Industries: Mobile Applications, Telecommunications Equipment, Data Infrastructure, Internet and Software Sectors, Consumer Internet, Media, Research and Development.
Startups Funded: Carbon Clean Solutions, EKI Communications, Audio Compass, Exotel, Printo.
4. Sequoia Capital India
Sequoia Capital India focuses on making investments in businesses at various stages, including startup, early, mid, late, expansion, public, and growth.
People to Know:Â Shailesh Lakhani and Shailendra Singh.
Funding Structure: SCI invests between $100,000 and $1 Mn in the seed stage, between $1 Mn and $10 Mn in the early stage, and between $10 Mn and $100 Mn in growth stage companies.
Industries: Consumer, Energy, Financial, Healthcare, Outsourcing, Technology.
Startups Funded: JustDial, Knowlarity, Practo, iYogi, bankbazaar.com
5. Nexus Venture Partners
A venture capital business called Nexus Venture Partners makes investments in firms in India and the US that are in their early growth stages
People to Know: Suvir Sujan and Anup Gupta
Funding Structure: Invests between $0.5 Mn and $10 Mn in early growth stage companies. Also, makes investments up to $0.5 Mn in its seed program.
Industries: Mobile, Data Security, Big Data analytics, Infrastructure, Cloud, Storage, Internet, Rural Sector, Outsourced Services, Agribusiness, Energy, Media, Consumer and Business Services, Technology.
Startups Funded: Snapdeal, Housing, Komli, ScaleArc, PubMatic, Delhivery.
6. Inventus Capital Partners
Inventus is a venture capital fund run by business owners and seasoned professionals with the primary objective of helping young entrepreneurs succeed.
People to Know: Samir Kumar and Kanwal Rekhi
Funding Structure: The firm does not invest in capital-intensive companies. It typically leads the first venture round with $1 Mn to $2 Mn and as the businesses grow, it invests from $0.25 Mn up to $10 Mn.
Industries: Consumer, Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure, Media, Internet and Catalog Retail, Healthcare, Information Technology, Hardware and Equipment, Telecommunications, etc.
Startups Funded: Poshmark, Savaari, Farfaria, Policy Bazaar.com, Insta Health Solutions, CBazaar.
7. IDG Ventures
IDG Ventures India is a leading India-focused technology venture capital fund that invests in startups, early-stage, growth-stage, and expansion-stage firms. It has a global network of technology venture funds with more than $4 billion.
People to Know:Â Manik Arora and Sudhir Sethi
Funding Structure: Invests in India-based companies and also in companies outside India. The firm invests between $1 Mn and $10 Mn.
Industries: Digital Consumer – Internet, Mobile, Media, and Technology Enabled Consumer Services, Enterprise Software – SaaS, Software Products and Enterprise services, Engineering – Medical Devices, Clean-tech, and IP-led Businesses
Startups Funded: UNBXD, Yatra.com, Myntra.com. FirstCry, Zivame, iProf, Ozone Media.
8. Fidelity Growth Partners
The private equity division of Fidelity International Limited that specializes in investing in India is called Fidelity Growth Partners India. Since 2008, FGPI has invested in several industries, including manufacturing, technology, consumer products, healthcare, and life sciences.
People to Know: Abhinav Sinha, Harsh Jhaveri
Funding Structure:Â Typically, FGPI invests between $10 Mn and $50 Mn for a minority stake in the company
Industries: Healthcare and Life Sciences, Technology, Consumer and Manufacturing
Startups Funded: Netmagic, Yebhi
9. Naspers
Founded in 1915 as a public limited liability company, Naspers is a well-known international media conglomerate. In September 1994, Naspers was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The main businesses of the group are pay television, the provision of related technology, print media (including publishing, distribution, and printing), and online platforms (focused on commerce, communities, content, communication, and gaming). South Africa and other countries in Africa, including China, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Brazil, Russia, Thailand, and the Netherlands are where the majority of the group’s operations are based.
Industries: E-commerce, Print Media, Pay Television
Startups Funded: OLX, Flipkart
10. Steadview Capital
Leading alternative asset management Steadview is headquartered in Hong Kong. The company focuses on long-term investments in a variety of industries.
People to Know: Ravi Mehta
Funding Structure: Early Stage Venture and Later Stage Venture Investments Industries: E-commerce
Startups Funded: Olacabs, Flipkart, Saavn, Urban Ladder
11. Jungle Ventures
Founded in Singapore and supported by business owners, Jungle Ventures provides funding and scaling assistance to companies throughout Asia Pacific. It makes investments in international startups tackling issues important to Asia Pacific markets. The US, Singapore, India, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines are the current countries where it has investments.
People to Know: Amit Anand, Subrata Mitra
Funding Structure: Venture Capital that does Seed and Early Stage Venture Investments
Industries: Ecommerce, Digital Media, Saas, Fintech, Big Data, Analytics, Enterprise
Startups Funded: Zipdial, Ekstop, Pokkt, Milaap
12. Zodius Capital
Since it began operating in 2011, Zodius has been growing one business every six months while working closely with the people at each of its portfolio companies to “speed up” and “shape up” for extraordinary growth and profitability.
People to Know: Neeraj Bhargava, Gautam Patel
Industries: Big Data and Analytics, Digital Media and Commerce, Education
Startups Funded: BigBasket, Culture Machine
13. Qualcomm Ventures
The investment division of Fortune 500 business Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), having operations all around the world, is Qualcomm Ventures.
People to Know: Karthee Madasamy
Industries: Business Software, Cloud/Enterprise, Consumer Software, Hardware, Health Care, Infrastructure, Semi/Components
Startups Funded: Appsdaily, Capillary, Deck, Portea, Housing
14. Warburg Pincus
Leading international private equity firm Warburg Pincus specializes in growth investing. More than $37 billion worth of assets are being managed by the company. More than 120 firms make up its active portfolio, which is broadly diverse by stage, industry, and country.
People to Know: Hari Ravichandran
Funding Structure:Â It places a focus on growth investing and has built successful businesses at all stages, including the conception and creation of venture capital opportunities, provision of funding to meet the needs of already-existing businesses, investment in later-stage buyout transactions, and participation in special circumstances with distinctive features.
Industries: Consumer, Industrial, and Services, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Real Estate, Tech, Media, Telecommunications
Startups Funded: Lemon Tree, Biba, Quikr
15. Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners is a multinational venture capital firm that invests in individuals with innovative ideas and covers all stages of development, including seed funding, start-ups, expansion, and early-stage investments, often Series A and B financings.
People to Know:Â Wende Hutton
Funding Structure: The organization typically invests in its portfolio companies in the range of $0.05 million to $80 million. Within seven to ten years, it prefers to sell off its interests.
Industries: Technology- Advertising & Marketing, Big Data/Cloud, Consumer, Enterprise/SaaS, FinTech, Hardware, Healthcare – Biopharma, Digital Health & MedTech.
Startups Funded: Naaptol, Bharat Matrimony, iYogi, Happiest minds, mCARBON, CarTrade, Surewaves.
16. SAIF Partners
SAIF Partners has been making investments in India since 2001 and specializes in Asia-wide private equity and venture capital.
People to Know:Â Â Mukul Arora & Mukul Singhal
Funding Structure: Invests between $200,000 and $500,000 in early-stage enterprises and between $30 million and $35 million in more established unlisted ventures in one or more rounds of financing totaling between $10 million and $100 million.
Industries: IT, ITes, Industrials, Financial Services, Internet, Consumer Products, Mobile
Startups Funded: Justdial.com, Paytm, Network18, HomeShop18, Book My Show.
17. Ascent Capital Advisors
With over 150 years of combined expertise in Indian capital markets, Ascent Capital, an independent private equity firm with a focus on India, has one of the most experienced teams on the ground.
People to Know:Â Raja Kumar
Funding Structure: The firm makes investments ranging from $10 Mn to $30 Mn.
Industries: Technology, E-commerce, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Brands, Infrastructure
Startups Funded: Bigbasket.com, KIMS
18. Axon Partners Group
The Group, which specializes in international emerging markets, chooses to invest in technology-focused businesses in nations like Latam, Spain, and India.
People to Know: Francisco Velázquez de Cuéllar
Funding Structure: Invests in growth phases, from seed money to global expansion, between $100,000K and $25 Mn.
Industries: Games, Software, Security, Biotechnology, Telecommunications
Startups Funded: iYogi, ByHours.com, Hot Hotels.
19. Bain Capital Private Equity
Collectively, Bain Capital professionals have invested the most in each fund that has been raised. The management teams and Bain Capital provide the strategic and analytical tools required to create and expand successful businesses.
People to Know: Samonnoi Banerjee
Funding Structure: Â Invests between $5 Mn and $1 Bn in companies in a wide range of Industries.
Industries: Consumer, Retail and Dining, Financial and Business Services, Healthcare, Industrial and Energy, Technology, Media, and Telecom.
Startups Funded: ASIMCO, BMC Software, Biglobe, Atento, BPL
20. Basil Partners
It is a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage ventures with a concentration on India as well as other countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.
People to Know: Ramanan Raghavendran and Rajeev Srivastava.
Funding Structure: Â Investment is done in the range between $1 million and $ 5 million with minimum revenue of $5 million.
Industries: IT
Startups Funded: Endeavour Software Technologies, Karmic Lifesciences
