India's startup ecosystem elated on Sequoia raising $1.35 billion funds

US-headquartered venture capital investor Sequoia's Indian arm has brought some good news to the startup ecosystem in the country that is reeling under tremendous stress from the pandemic.

Sequoia has received commitments totaling $ 1.35 billion from Limited Partners for two new India and South-East Asia (SEA)-focussed funds —a $ 525 million venture fund and $825 million growth fund.

Sequoia intends to use these funds to double down on investments in both early- and growth-stage firms in the technology, consumer, and healthcare space.

“We are excited about the depth of opportunities in this region, which is undergoing a massive technology-led transformation. The start-up ecosystem in both India and SEA has come a very long way in the last few years; the market gets deeper and the crop of founders, and their achievements, becomes more impressive each year," said Shailendra J Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital (India) and SEA.

“The combined GDP of India and SEA is expected to cross US$ 14 trillion and the number of mobile internet users will likely cross 1.5 billion by 2030. This region will become home to a number of massive technology companies during the next decade," he added.

Commenting on its Twitter handle, Sequoia India, said “A fundraise represents a massive responsibility to deliver attractive returns to Sequoia’s Limited Partners, the majority of which are non-profits, foundations, and charities. We do this by partnering with outstanding founders who are building category-defining companies.”

Startups in India sense that this is very big news and expect many more Unicorns like OYO and Byju's to emerge from the country. The series of news on the multiple investments into JioPlatforms and now this fund availability from Sequoia has elevated the confidence in Indian entrepreneurs.