Fidelity-backed VC firm Eight Roads Ventures consolidates Asia investments, lets go of a dozen executives

About six members from the India investment team have been asked to go as there will be redundancies and overlaps in duties

Fidelity-backed VC firm Eight Roads Ventures has restructured and consolidated its Asia investment teams to focus on India, China, Japan and cross-border deals, people familiar with the developments told Moneycontrol. It has also let go of some senior employees, including in India.

“Earlier, each region worked in silos but Eight Roads is now changing its approach where all Asia teams will work and crack deals together so they can complement each other, and compete internally” one of the persons cited above said.

It will also provide cross-border synergies that will help founders tap more markets, the source added.

As part of the reset, the VC firm, known for backing Byju’s, PharmEasy, Shadowfax and other new-age companies, has let go of about a dozen executives across Asia, with India team hit the hardest.

“About six members from the India investment team have been asked to go as there will be redundancies and overlaps in duties. The rest are from the other regions,” a second source said.

Eight Roads Ventures said its local investment strategy remains unchanged, with continued focus on technology, healthcare, consumer, and financial services.

“Eight Roads has decided to realign its strategy to focus on investing in Asia (India, China and Japan) and Asia led cross-border businesses and as a result, has restructured its teams accordingly,” a company spokesperson said in response to Moneycontrol’s queries.

“Building on the firm’s 30+ year history of investing in Asia, Eight Roads remains committed to the region and its portfolio companies. The firm will continue to invest across its sectors of focus and core geographies.”

Sources also indicated that Fidelity, the sole limited partner (LP) of Eight Roads Ventures, has asked the VC firm to look for other LPs who can co-invest in the fund along with Fidelity.

“That way, Fidelity will no longer be the solo LP of Eight Roads and will then anchor the fund along with capital from other LPs,” a source said.

However, a change to that effect has not been finalised yet and there are chances the structure does not evolve, too.

A spokesperson for Fidelity did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

LPs are the people or institutions that invest in private equity and venture capital funds.

Eight Roads was a part of Fidelity but was demerged in 2019 as a standalone entity. It has over 30 years of investing experience across geographies and regions and over $5 billion in assets under management.