Accel India closes $60 mn venture fund

Bangalore, Nov 12: Accel has planned to venture into seed and early stage opportunities in India by closing $ 60 million venture fund. The Fund will pursue a multi-sector strategy, targeting opportunities in Technology, Technology-enabled Services, Internet, Mobile, Media, Life Sciences, Consumer Products and Services, and other high-growth sectors of the Indian economy. The fund has attracted top tier institutional investors from North America, Europe and Asia.

With over $4 billion under management, Accel has helped world-class internet and technology entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have become category-defining enterprises. Example Accel investments have included: comScore, Facebook, JBoss, Kayak, Macromedia, MetroPCS, Polycom, Realnetworks, Redback, Remedy, UUNet, Veritas and Walmart.com, among others.

Accel will typically be the first institutional investor in a new venture, and will play an active role in supporting the management to shape the portfolio company's direction. "Accel India is pleased to have gained the support of our industry's elite investors," said Peter Wagner, Partner at Accel Partners. "The Accel India team is already functioning as a key element of our Accel global network, to the benefit of talented, passionate entrepreneurs in India and around the world."

Seed and early stage markets continue to be under served in India, attracting less than 5% of the total Venture capital funds. Accel India's specialization in the seed and early stage investments would position it as the dominant player in this space. Accel will continue with their highly engaged model to venture building. "We have seen a significant increase in entrepreneurial activity in the last few years; many are first time entrepreneurs who find significant value in our team's experience in hands-on company building beyond just the cash investment" said Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel India.

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