Scoop: Peak XV out to raise $1.2 billion fund, its first since Sequoia split

Time of India

25-04-2025

Peak XV Partners
, the rebranded entity that split from
Silicon Valley
's marquee
venture capital
firm
Sequoia Capital
two years ago, is set to raise its first independent fund with a target corpus of $1.2-1.4 billion, said three people familiar with the matter.
The fresh capital being racked up will focus on investing in
early-stage ventures
across India and Southeast Asia, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the talks are private. Peak XV, which has backed the likes of Zomato, Cred and Groww, also makes larger investments through its growth vehicle, which is not a part of this fundraise, one of the people cited above said.
The latest
fundraising
marks a crucial phase for Peak XV, which is trying to establish itself as a standalone identity after the Sequoia spin-off in June 2023.
Sequoia US broke away
from its India and China partnerships at the same time, signalling a retreat from Asia for the firm that had backed tech giants like Apple, WhatsApp and Google in their very early days.
Peak XV's $2.85 billion eighth fund under the Sequoia Capital was announced in 2022 – for investing in venture, growth and Southeast Asia. Of the total pool, $2 billion was earmarked for India investments, while the remaining was for Southeast Asia. In 2024, the VC firm
downsized this fund by 16%
with the bulk of the reduction coming in its growth-stage allocation.
'They had a meeting with their limited partners (sponsors in funds) recently and expressed their intention to launch their maiden fund by end of the year…The firm expects to close the fundraise by early next year and will officially inform their LPs soon,' said another person privy to the matter.
Peak XV Partners managing director Shailendra Singh did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The new vehicle — ninth for the outfit since its launch in 2006 in India — will be almost half the size of its previous fund despite its resizing last year. The investment firm has since 2006 raised almost $9 billion in capital across funds.
US market in focus
Over the past two years, the VC fund has been looking to establish itself in the US, where it was unable to compete for deals due to its franchise partnership with Sequoia. 'Keeping in mind the number of India-origin founders who are based in the US, it makes a lot of sense for them to have a team there. To add to that the entire AI ecosystem is unfolding there which they want to capture,' said a person familiar with the thinking at the firm.
Along with the frenetic pace at which deals are closing in
artificial intelligence
, the US has a large number of Indian founders who run cross-border companies in the enterprise segment. To push its presence in Silicon Valley, the fund hired Arnav Sahu from
Y Combinator
as its first investment partner based in San Francisco, adding to a six-member US team. Peak XV has invested in Atomicwork, Rapid Canvas and Supabase—which are based in the US.
Top deck changes
Peak XV's fundraising comes in the backdrop of a slew of leadership changes at the fund — including a churn in its leadership ranks — amid a prolonged VC funding winter and increasing scrutiny from limited partners globally.
In February, two managing directors, Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand,
announced their exit from the firm
. This was preceded by exits of managing director Piyush Gupta,
who quit in April 2024
to launch his secondaries focused fund; chief marketing officer Gayatri Yadav, who left to join Reliance Industries; chief public policy officer Shweta Rajpal Kohli; and Anandamoy Roychowdhary, who was a partner at Surge, Peak XV's seed-stage investing programme. In March, Shraeyansh Thakur, a principal involved with the firm's early-stage investments, also announced his departure.
ET had reported on February 11 that Peak XV could see more churn in its top deck over the course of the year – which the firm had denied at the time.
IPOs and exits
Since 2006, the venture capital firm – which has backed new-age companies such as Razorpay, Oyo and Truecaller, in addition to traditional businesses such as Prataap Snacks, Five Star Business Finance and Indigo Paints – has realised almost $6 billion in cash through exits from both public markets and private transactions.
Last year the fund clocked exits of nearly $1.2 billion with five of its portfolio companies – Ixigo, Awfis, Go Digit General Insurance, Blackbuck and Mobikwik – going public. To be sure, Peak XV did not sell any stake in Go Digit and Mobikwik during their public issues.
Additionally, Peak XV scored $185 million from a stock sale in Indigo Paints, $150 million through a block deal in Five Star Business Finance, clocked $73 million of liquidity through the sale of shares in Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer and closed a $40 million stake sale in Truecaller. It also closed private market secondary deals in portfolio companies such as Healthkart, Rebel Foods, Finova and Cloudnine Hospitals. Since 2020, more than 20 of Peak XV's portfolio companies have gone public.
Multiple other Peak XV portfolio companies are finalising plans to go public, including Groww, Meesho and Zetwerk.
Peak XV's fundraising will further add to the available capital for investments in the Indian startups. Over the last year, firms including Accel India ($650 million), A91 Partners ($665 million), Bessemer Venture Partners ($350 million), Stellaris Venture Partners ($300 million), Cornerstone Ventures ($200 million) and Prime Venture Partners ($100 million) have closed or are in the process of raising their new India-focused funds.