Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia (SEA), now known as Peak XV Partners, will now operate as an independent firm that will provide more flexibility to further strengthen the market leadership position, Sequoia Capital’s Managing Partner Roelof Botha said on Wednesday.
Sequoia India and SEA is the largest venture capital firm in the region, managing over $9.2 billion across 13 funds.
“Sequoia India and SEA have flourished under Shailendra Singh’s leadership and we are proud of the portfolio’s scale, quality and strength. Operating as an independent firm will provide more flexibility to further strengthen the market leadership position,” Botha said in a statement.
“Since then, Sequoia India has been instrumental in cultivating the startup ecosystem in the country, which has become one of the most vibrant in the world. I am very excited for Shailendra and the Peak XV team as they continue to double down on the region,” he added.
Last week, Sequoia announced a split which created three units — Sequoia Capital US and Europe under Botha, Peak XV Partners under Singh, and the China firm, now called HongShan under Neil Shen.
According to Sairee Chahal, Founder of Sheroes, this is another step in India’s emergence on the global map.
“Now we have a global Indian tech investor,” Chahal said.
Balaji S. Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said that this is not just a name change, “but a whole new paradigm in which global fund franchises will evolve into”.
“As far as India is concerned, nothing better than a massive new Indian fund with $9 billion AUM and a great future to invest in and from India and SouthEast Asia,” he added.
According to Kunal Bahl, CEO, Snapdeal, he is not sure if Peak XV is still allowed to invest internationally but if they are, “it may mark the internationalisation of Indian venture capital”.
Sequoia Capital has been an early backer of Apple, Google and Airbnb in the US, ByteDance in China, Zomato and BYJU’s in India, and GoTo in Indonesia.
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