Sequoia Raised Capital Worth $695 Million in Southeast Asia and India
Sequoia has come up with a major announcement that its latest fund for Southeast Asia and India has closed. The organization succeeded in raising capital of almost $700 million in the fund. This marks the completion of its 5th fund after the brand’s expansion into the Indian region.
Early in the year, reports emerged that the firm planned for raising capital with a fund valuing at $1 billion; naturally, similarities were linked to the Vision Fund of SoftBank. However, later updates clarified that the real target ranged from $650 to $700 million.
The newly-acquired funds in Asia marks Sequoia’s ambition in the region and the firm expects to invest further in future. More recently, the firm was reported to be engaged in the final phases of raising capital for an $8 billion internet fund. Another aim of the firm is to create a Chinese fund which might exceed the $6 billion mark. State-owned Starquest Capital and the e-commerce giant JD.com were also busy in participation.
This money is expected to be used by Sequoia’s Indian leg for increasing its investment on healthcare, consumer, and IT-based startups for maximizing the potential of these regions—a total of 800 internet users reside in the region. With Southeast Asia and India’s population of 650 million and 1.3 billion respectively, the growth of these users will only go upward.
In addition to its popularity as the leading venture capital in the Chinese and American industry, the firm carries a strong reputation in Asia while it is slowly gaining traction in Southeast Asia by additionally raising capital initiatives. For example, in India, the firm’s investments ballooned to over 200 where success stories are the following: Freecharge—Snapdeal acquired it, Freshworks—expecting an IPO, Zomato, OYO Rooms—supported by the Vision Fund of SoftBank, and JustDial—made public in 2013,
The Southeast Asian expansion gained a boost at the beginning of the decade; the firm opened its first regional office in 2012. A spokesman from the firm stated that the overall value of its portfolio relies 20-30% on the region.
To date, Sequoia has partnered with numerous leading startups from Southeast Asia. These include Caroussel and Zilingo from Singapore; Traveloka, Tokopedia, and Go-Jek from Indonesia. The firm’s seriousness and commitment to the Southeast region can be realized from the fact that Shailendra Singh—the managing director of Sequoia India—permanently moved to Singapore.
The firm explained its vision during its announcement about the recent fund in a blog post. According to the firm, “As we look to the future, the menu of investment opportunities is unprecedented — from mobile internet to online brands, enterprise SaaS to AI, crypto to deep tech in healthcare, new age consumer brands and beyond.” Additionally, the firm was positive about Southeast Asia and India as it stated that “India and Southeast Asia, meanwhile, are at an inflection point, and we are witnessing incredible quality of new investment opportunities.
Lastly, there were also some notable staff announcements: Abhay Pandey—the managind director—is moving away in order to look for raising capital in the consumer sector.