Matrix Partners to back startups with $450M India fund

Matrix Partners India plans to raise a $450 million India fund. This will be the firm’s fourth fund through which the company will support startups in India.

According to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States, Matrix Partners India, an early investor in firms such as Ola, payments startup Razorpay, new aggregator and short video player Dailyhunt, and others, will create a $450 million India fund. This would be Matrix Partners’ fourth India-focused fund, which will invest in companies in India and South Asian markets.

The capital raising comes as Matrix’s counterparts, including AccelNSE 0.76 percent, SequoiaCapital, and Lightspeed, have raised or are in the midst of raising larger sums for the Indian market.

On July 14, Sequoia India announced that it has raised a massive $2.85 billion across three funds to invest in the Indian and Southeast Asian markets. Sequoia would incorporate its seed-stage fund Surge into its $300 million venture vehicle allocation.

Lightspeed Venture Partners is also nearing the end of its $500 million fund for investments in India and Southeast Asia. Matrix previously raised $300 million in funding in 2019.

This is a significant fundraising since larger funds like as SoftBank, Tiger Global, and others have signalled that dealmaking would halt and have encouraged their individual portfolio businesses to preserve cash and prepare for a slump. However, early-stage investments remain unaffected.