Lightspeed ventures founder9/13/2023 Secondaries were a pretty meaningful route to liquidity even prior to last year. “Lightspeed has generated significant liquidity from India across secondaries, public markets and trade sales. Secondaries and mergers and acquisitions continue to be a healthy exit option for the Indian market, Somaia said. Since its entry into the India market, Lightspeed has invested over $1.5 billion in the country while clocking returns from companies such as IEX (IPO), Oyo and Tutorvista, among others. Companies have to cut burn, they've got to make their capital go further, they've got to clearly show that the underlying economics work,” he added.Īfter a slew of startups hit the public markets last year, new-age tech firms have postponed their Initial Public Offering (IPO) timelines. “At the beginning of the year, we started engaging with founders, sharing what we were seeing and encouraging them to adjust to what's coming. While one can’t predict how long it will last, we expect it to be longer than previous cycles because there are a whole bunch of factors in the mix.” On the correction in the valuation of technology firms, both in the public and private markets, Somaia said, “These periods, as difficult as they are, are necessary. What that means is that if there's an early-stage opportunity with a really strong team, they will likely be able to raise at around the same levels that they might have raised six months ago,” Somaia said. What we have begun to see is a slight reduction in the pace of activity and a flight to quality. “We're not yet seeing any significant changes in early-stage valuations. That's okay, it doesn't change our view of the market,” he said.Įarly-stage funding has, however, been less impacted so far, as more funds including Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global (formerly Falcon Edge) try to get into seed and Series A financing. What's clear is that this region matters to us, and it will take some time for the growth markets to adjust and find a new equilibrium. “When we commit resources to a market, it's really done with a very long-term view. Somaia said the VC firm’s push towards growth investing won't change amid a squeeze in late-stage funding. But over the past few years, globally and in India, early-stage investors have raised larger funds along with specific growth-stage vehicles to protect their shareholding in buzzy startups. Growth-stage investments usually come after a startup’s first few rounds of funding, which VC funds typically don’t participate in. The fund will cut cheques of $500,000 to $15 million and focus on seed to Series B investments, with growth capital coming from its global vehicles.Įven as India-dedicated VC firms mop up larger sums from limited partners, or sponsors in the fund, they have enlarged the scope and geography of their investments.ĮT reported on February 15 that Lightspeed’s strategy is to focus on growth-stage deals with a dedicated team in place to scout opportunities in India.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |