Bessemer Venture Partners Launches $350 Million Fund for Indian AI and Tech Startups

Bessemer Venture Partners Announces $350 Million Fund for Indian Startups

Bessemer Venture Partners has announced a $350 million fund dedicated to early-stage investments in India. This is the firm's second India-focused fund, which will target startups in AI-enabled services, SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer brands, and cybersecurity. Partners Vishal Gupta and Anant Vidur Puri will lead the investment strategy. The firm cites several factors behind the new fund, including the growth of India's middle class, expansion of digital infrastructure, and increasing domestic investment. "India is rapidly moving towards being the world's third largest economy and a trillion dollar digital opportunity fueled by strong domestic savings, growing mobile and internet penetration, rapidly improving software and AI advancements," Puri wrote on LinkedIn. He highlighted how this growth is further supported by a strong layer of public technology initiatives such as Aadhaar, UPI, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), and others. Bessemer opened its Bengaluru office nearly 20 years ago to focus on India's technology sector. Since then, it has invested in more than 80 startups in the country. Over the last five years, more than 80% of its India investments have been at Series A or earlier stages. Its portfolio includes BigBasket, Urban Company, Perfios, and Livspace. Nine of its portfolio companies in India have completed initial public offerings. According to the company, the investment strategy will follow Bessemer's roadmap research process, aimed at identifying early trends and emerging sectors. Startups backed by Bessemer's first India fund include Boldfit, MoveInSync, Pepper Content, ShopDeck, Vetic, and Zopper.

Bessemer closes $350 million India-only fund to boost play

Bessemer Venture Partners closed a $350 million India fund to invest in AI, SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer brands, and cybersecurity. It plans to back early-stage startups with investments between $5 million and $40 million, continuing long-term support.Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) closed its second dedicated India fund at $350 million (about Rs 3,051 crore), aiming to invest in startups across artificial intelligence (AI), software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech, digital health, consumer brands, and cybersecurity domains. This follows the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm's first India-focused fund of $220 million raised in 2021, which backed startups such as Boldfit, MoveInSync, Pepper Content, Shopdeck, Vetic, and Zopper. "The fund was substantially oversubscribed, but we capped it at $350 million. Also, the limited partner base of the fund includes global universities, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and a bunch of family offices," said Vishal Gupta, partner and managing director at BVP's Bengaluru office. Launched last October, the fund plans to invest between $5 million and $40 million in early-stage startups and continue supporting them through later growth stages. BVP, which started its Indian operations in 2006, has invested in more than 80 startups in the country so far including BigBasket, PharmEasy, Urban Company, and Livspace. Its portfolio has seen nine companies go public including Swiggy, Indian Energy Exchange, and Bharat Matrimony. "We would continue to invest across the roadmaps of SaaS, AI, and fintech companies which are building software for the financial system, digital health, consumer brands and cyber security. This is where we are going to deploy most of the capital," said Gupta. On AI investments, BVP partner Anant Vidur Puri said the firm is exploring opportunities across various layers of AI, including foundational models, infrastructure, applications, and AI-led services. "As a firm, we believe all four are exciting areas or companies in India. However, top two areas from these four would be companies building verticalised AI applications, and companies building AI-enabled services for different industries," said Puri. Globally, Bessemer's portfolio includes companies like Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, LinkedIn, DocuSign, Fiverr, and Toast. The firm manages more than $18 billion in assets globally. BVP's fund closure comes amid a wave of new VC fund closures. On January 5, ET reported that Accel India, an early investor in Flipkart and Swiggy, closed its eighth fund with $650 million in commitments. Similarly, Stellaris Venture Partners closed its third India-dedicated fund at $300 million recently.

Bessemer Venture Partners Raises $350 Million India Fund to Back Next-Generation of Startups

Second dedicated India fund builds on Bessemer's nearly two-decade-long presence in the country and reinforces its commitment to supporting technology and innovation-driven businesses The fund will focus on early-stage startups and support them through subsequent growth stages Bessemer will focus on investments across AI, SaaS, fintech, digital health, consumer, and cybersecurity Bessemer Venture Partners today announced the close of $350 million in capital for its second dedicated India fund, reinforcing the firm's long-standing commitment to backing founders in the region as they build enduring companies. The new fund will enhance the firm's focus on early-stage investments, across AI-enabled services and SaaS, fintech, digital health, direct-to-consumer brands, and cybersecurity. Bessemer has a long-standing history of partnering with companies early and supporting them through their growth. More than 80 percent of its investments in India over the last five years have been in early-stage companies. Speaking on the fund raise, Vishal Gupta, Partner and Managing Director of the firm's Bangalore office said, "This fund deepens our commitment to India's startup ecosystem as we continue backing the next generation of entrepreneurs building technology-led businesses. We remain focused on identifying and investing in founders who are driving innovation, solving complex challenges, and building market-defining companies. Beyond providing capital, we bring deep sector expertise, a global network, and hands-on support to help founders navigate their growth journeys and scale sustainably." Bessemer Partner Anant Vidur Puri added, "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." Bessemer first established its India presence nearly two decades ago in 2006 and has since invested in more than 80 startups in the country. The partnership's strategy centres around being patient, long-term partners to visionary founders from the early stages. The firm has a history of taking a roadmap-driven investment approach that enables its investors to build conviction in emerging areas across industries before they become obvious, and better help founders navigate evolving industry landscapes. This approach has led Bessemer to invest early in shifts in the market like the onset of the mobile revolution, India's digital infrastructure, and its healthcare revolution, resulting in investments such as Urban Company, Perfios, and Medi Assist. The firm's first dedicated India fund backed notable startups including Boldfit, MoveInSync, Pepper Content, Shopdeck, Vetic, and Zopper, while its broader portfolio includes category leaders like BigBasket, Livspace, Perfios, Swiggy, and Urban Company. The firm has also seen nine IPOs within its India portfolio. With investment teams positioned across five countries, Bessemer is a globally integrated platform that is committed to supporting innovative startups and fostering the next generation of industry leaders. About Bessemer Venture Partners Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. With more than 145 IPOs and 300 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer's global portfolio has included ServiceTitan, Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has more than $18 billion of assets under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Boston, and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemer's storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions (see Memos) and also learn from its mistakes (see Anti-Portfolio).