The India and SEA-focused fund had last raised $2.85 billion in July 2022 to invest in early-stage, venture and growth deals in both geographies.

Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is splitting into three entities focused on geographies including the United States, China, India and South East Asia.

The VC fund said in a statement on Tuesday that over the years, the strategies for each business diverged and that its scale and market leadership across different geographies had started to result in brand confusion and portfolio conflict compelling the C fund to split into three independent funds.

Sequoia India & Southeast Asia (SEA) will rebrand to Peak XV Partners and will operate as a fully independent firm. The India and SEA-focused fund had last raised $2.85 billion in July 2022 to invest in early-stage, venture and growth deals in both geographies.

“Our firm will continue to be managed by the present leadership team and will continue to invest from the most recently raised set of funds focused on India and SEA,” said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India & SEA in a statement.

The US and Europe-focused fund will continue to function under the existing Sequoia Capital branding, while the China fund, will be rebranded as HongSham. Roelof Botha will head the US fund, Neil Shen will head the Chian fund and Shailendra Singh will continue to head the India fund.

Since its inception, Sequoia Capital (US/Europe), Sequoia China and Sequoia India & SEA have been built as separate businesses with independent investment decision-making. However, due to brand confusion and conflict in portfolios, the leaders of each business have decided to move to fully independent partnerships with distinct brands, in order to serve founders and Limited Partners in the best manner, the statement added.

Sequoia India & SEA has raised USD 9.2 billion across 13 funds to date, and invested in over 400 start-ups in the region. “We have seen over 50 companies cross $1 billion in value already, celebrated 19 IPOs and multiple successful M&A events, resulting in $4.5 billion of realized exits so far. Our investment team is led by 11 Managing Directors with an average tenure of over 12 years at our firm,” the VC fund said.

In terms of funding strategy, Peak XV Partners will continue to focus on its existing sectors, including SaaS, AI, developer tools, cyber security, cloud infrastructure, fintech, climate tech, healthtech and consumer. The fund also added that it will double down on startup programs like Surge and Spark.

“To all our founders, we continue to cherish and be grateful for your partnership; there will be no change in the way we engage and manage all of our portfolio relationships. You can continue to say you are backed by Sequoia Capital India or Sequoia Capital SEA as the case may be…Our 60-plus operating team members across 5 offices, who work with you in Human Capital, Marketing, Strategic Development, Finance, Policy, and Legal will continue to do their best to help you in achieving your goals,” the VC firm added in its statement.

The rebranding on Sequoia Capital also comes shortly after several of its India and SEA portfolios such as BharatPe, Trell, and Zilingo, and others have battled with governance issues and allegations of financial fraud against co-founders. Following these incidents, Sequoia Capital in May 2022 deferred the closing of its $2.85 billion India and SEA fund due to reports of financial irregularities and accusations of fraud unearthed against some of its portfolios.

https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sequoia-capital-splits-into-three-different-units-india-amp-sea-fund-to-be-rebranded/3115886/