Accel Partners, a venture capital firm operating in Silicon Valley, Europe, Israel and China, has announced the establishment of the Accel India Venture Fund, which will focus on early-sta
Accel Partners, a venture capital firm operating in Silicon Valley, Europe, Israel and China, has announced the establishment of the Accel India Venture Fund, which will focus on early-stage venture investing in partnership with promising Indian entrepreneurs.
The fund will be managed by Subrata Mitra, Prashanth Prakash, Mahendran Balachandran and Gagan Kumar, who will join Accel as the partners of the Accel India Venture Fund. They are currently the partners of Erasmic Venture Fund, a seed and early-stage investment group whose portfolio includes Mu Sigma, Inbiopro, HolidayIQ, Kaati Zone, Myntra, Sconce and Virident.
‘Accel sees a tremendous need and opportunity for an active, highly-engaged approach to early-stage investing in India,’ says Accel partner Peter Wagner. ‘We are thrilled to be working with Subrata, Prashanth, Mahendran and Gagan, who have demonstrated their ability to add significant value throughout a new venture’s growth, beginning at its very earliest stages.’
Says Prakash: ‘The combination of the Accel platform and our team’s deep involvement in the local entrepreneurial process will help create a new generation of category-defining companies in India.’
Accel was created in 1983 as a US-based firm focused on Silicon Valley but also investing internationally, particularly in Israel. In 2001 it established Accel London, a distinct fund and team of partners dedicated to venture capital in Europe and Israel, and in 2005 it launched the IDG-Accel China Growth Fund in partnership with local venture capital firm IDGVC China.
Accel India Venture Fund will seek to build a position of leadership in its local market while drawing on Accel’s global network of partners, companies and strategic relationships. It will carry out seed-stage investing as well as investments in growing companies that have already begun operations, providing company development assistance and strategic support as well as cash investment.
The fund will pursue a multi-sector strategy, targeting opportunities in technology, technology-enabled services, internet, mobile, media, life sciences, consumer products and services, and other high-growth sectors of the Indian economy.
It will typically be the first institutional investor involved in a new venture, and play an active role in shaping its direction. As portfolio companies develop, the fund will welcome the involvement of other investment firms in future financing rounds.
‘We look forward to enhancing our catalysing role in early-stage venture capital,’ Mitra says. ‘We hope that our efforts will help many more gifted Indian entrepreneurs put their ideas into action, and accelerate their success in India, one of the world’s most dynamic markets.’
Accel was established in 1983 and has offices in Palo Alto, London and Bangalore as well as in China via the IDG-Accel partnership. The firm has more than USD4bn under management and has invested in more than 300 companies, including Agile Software, BitTorrent, Brightcove, Facebook, Foundry Networks, Infinera, Macromedia, MetroPCS, Realnetworks, Tellium, UUNet, Veritas and Walmart.com.