India’s leading venture capital firm Matrix Partners has raised its third fund worth $300 million (approx. Rs 2110 crore). This follows the over $100 million Extension fund closed in 2016. The VC specialises in early stage funding and has an impressive list of startups, which have benefitted from investments by Matrix.
Many among Ola, Quikr, Practo, Five Star Business Finance, Dailyhunt, Mswipe, Limeroad, OfBusiness and Treebo have become household names now and are in the portfolio of Matrix Partners. In addition, the startups that have received funding from Matrix include DailyNinja, Itilite, MoEngage, Stanza Living, Vogo, and Ziploan.
Matrix said in a statement that it will continue to follow its existing investment strategy of backing exceptional founders in their effort to build market leading companies at the seed, early and early growth stages across sectors. The firm’s advisory arm is led by Avnish Bajaj, Tarun Davda and Vikram Vaidyanathan.
“We are grateful for the continued support of our limited partners. This is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur in India – mobile internet led leapfrogging is underway across sectors and increasing GDP per capita and consumerism will have a multiplier effect on scaling businesses. We also thank the founders in our portfolio and those outside for being our inspiration and supporters on this journey together,” Avnish Bajaj said in a statement.
Those who have trusted their funds with Matrix Partners include several overseas investors from across Europe, North America and the Middle East apart from Indian investors like foundations and even university endowments.
Matrix Partners has built up an investment portfolio close to $1 billion and has been in the business since as early as 2006. As listed above, the startups they have invested in, span a number of sectors, from transportation and hospitality to ecommerce and healthcare and even fintech. Matrix says that it invests in companies that are targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages.