Accel is committed to $650 million even though it could raise billions for India

According to Shekhar Kirani, the company had plenty of opportunities to raise “multi-billion dollars.” However, Accel is holding steady based on a thoughtful assessment of India’s venture opportunities, in contrast to peers who have oversized their money.
In recent years, Lightspeed has almost increased its India fund to $500 million, while Peak XV has accumulated $2.5 billion in its most recent round of funds for the region. Stellaris has announced its third fund, valued at $300 million, after launching with a $90 million fund in 2017.
Kirani Said
“We have done a lot of historic studies in the U.S. and China. As funds go beyond $600-$650 million, historically, even in well established markets, building high quality returns becomes extremely hard,”.
The approach is similar to that of the American company Benchmark, which has produced disproportionate returns for decades while keeping fund sizes relatively small. Industry assessments indicate that Accel has routinely produced the best returns of any Indian venture fund, frequently by a wide amount. Anand Daniel spearheaded the first institutional investment at a $2 million value in the food delivery business Swiggy, which is a noteworthy accomplishment. In November, Swiggy went public at a valuation of $11.3 billion, making it the biggest global technology IPO of 2024.
The firm’s examination of the startup opportunities in India is the source of its discipline. According to Accel, about 300 top-tier businesses go through the pre-seed to Series A stages each year. It seeks to support roughly 40–60–70 total investments per fund cycle.
Daniel said
“We want to raise the right size early-stage fund to be able to generate good returns,”