Bessemer launches second India fund of $350 million, to continue focussing on early-stage startups

Vishal Gupta, partner at BVP

Silicon Valley-based Bessemer Venture Partners has launched its second India fund of $350 million, 50 percent higher than its first India fund of $220 million launched in 2021.

While the cheque size could be a bit bigger, the fund will continue to focus on early-stage startups, Vishal Gupta, partner with BVP told Moneycontrol. The larger fund size will help the investment firm to support portfolio startups in the subsequent rounds of funding.

BVP, which launched its India office almost two decades ago, will focus on investments across AI, SaaS, fintech, digital health, direct-to-consumer brands, and cybersecurity. Before 2021, the venture capital firm was making investments in the country from the global fund.

The Silicon Valley-based firm has backed companies like BigBasket, Urban Company, Bharat Matrimony, Medi Assist, Perfios, Pharmeasy, Zopper, and Swiggy among others.

The fundraising comes amidst multiple VC firms in India that have raised multi-billion funds for their India arm even as these funds are hesitant to deploy the money amidst funding winter.

Gupta said that BVP focusses on the roadmap and does not go by hype- and down cycles like the funding winter. “The best companies, in our view, are built during a down cycle...That is when founders find a way to be frugal and build interesting businesses. These are part and parcel of the market. And, therefore, long-term patient capital is very helpful. The more economic cycles you can ride alongside companies, the better you are,” he added.

According to Gupta, the fund’s strategy is the same in every geography it works in. Citing personal experience, Gupta noted that he did not make a single investment for 18 months between 2020 and 2021. This was a period of funding boom with inflated valuation and multi-million rounds in the country as Covid accelerated digitalisation of the global economy.

“There is so much noise, and how to avoid and manage that noise is a critical part of being an investor. The idea is to make as few mistakes as possible and stick to the core thinking of finding great businesses," Gupta said.

BVP has backed companies like LinkedIn, Shopify, Anthropic, Perplexity, Canva, OLX, Pinterest and Skype among others.

“India is at the forefront of the AI-driven transformation, with founders building domestic as well as globally competitive businesses across enterprise software, fintech, and consumer technology. As AI adoption accelerates, we see immense opportunities for innovation, and this fund allows us to back entrepreneurs shaping the next phase of India’s digital economy,” said Anant Vidur Puri, partner at BVP.

The fund has invested in over 80 companies since 2006.