Another MD leaves Sequoia, firm closes sixth fund at $695 million

Abhay Pandey, a Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India, has quit the firm, the venture capital firm said in a blog post. Pandey was keen to start a consumer-focused fund but Sequoia invests across sectors.

His departure comes after V T Bharadwaj, another Managing Director at the firm, quit earlier this year and teamed up with former MD Gautam Mago to start a fund. Mago had quit the firm last June. 

Sequoia India also announced the closure of its sixth fund at $695 million, which will be used to double down on investments in both early and growth stage companies in the technology, consumer and healthcare sectors across India and Southeast Asia (SEA). 

Sequoia Capital India’s new fund comes two years after it raised $930 million for its fifth India-focused fund. The new fund takes its total assets under management to $3.9 billion.

Initially, the VC firm was planning to raise $1 billion for its sixth fund but later cut down on the size of the fund. Instead, Sequoia is raising an $8 billion global growth fund through which it plans to do late-stage investments in India and Southeast Asia.

Sequoia also announced the promotions of few key team members. Abheek Anand, who came from Facebook and led its investments in Appier, Cuemath, Grofers and MoneyTap, has been promoted as a Managing Director. Anand will focus on investments in SE Asia. 

The firm has promoted four Vice-Presidents to Principal roles. Ishaan Mittal and Sakshi Chopra will become Principals in the growth team. Ashish Agarwal and Harshjit Sethi will become Principals in the venture team. Sequoia has invested in 200 firms in India & SE Asia.
 

Sequoia has invested at a very early stage in many startups, including Citrus, Druva, Faaso's, FreeCharge, Grofers, Healthkart, India Shelter Finance, Mobikwik, Pine Labs, Practo, Prizm Payments, Scio Health and Zilingo. It plans to invest more in these companies to help companies’ journeys --- from idea to IPO and beyond.

In 2012, Sequoia India established a presence in Southeast Asia. It has invested in Go-Jek, Tokopedia and Traveloka, which now rank among Indonesia's largest unicorns, as well as regional market leaders such as One Championship, Appier and Carousell. South East Asia accounts for 20-30 per cent of Sequoia India's investments, by value, and it expects that to continue in near term.
 

Sequoia has made several exits over the last few years, with many coming through M&As including GlobalLogic, Star Health, Scio Health Analytics, Prizm Payments, Freecharge, Citrus and others. Multiple portfolio companies have also gone public, including Prataap Snacks, JustDial, Ujjivan, Equitas and QuickHeal. It expects the pace of exits to pick up as more companies reach scale.