California-based Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm was founded by Don Valentine in 1972. Its portfolio is focused on fintech, healthcare, and technology companies. It largely invests during, seed, and early stage of the startups, guiding them towards accelerated growth.
Like many major investment firms, Sequoia Capital has shifted its focus to the Indian market, considering the opportunity for growth. It was one of the early entrants in the Indian market making its bet on some of the emerging industries which have started to pay off. Sequoia’s experience in the technology industry helped it to find some of the gems in the Indian market.
Here is a list of top 10 investments by Sequoia Capital, since its late entry into the Indian market:
OYO: Oyo rooms was one of the earliest investment for Sequoia Capital way back in 2014. It had raised ₹30 crores in a round led by Sequoia Capital. Sequoia has been a regular investor and partner of Oyo ever since, helping it grow and become one of the largest hospitality company in India.
BYJU’s: India’s largest online education company founded by Byju Raveendran in 2011 was another remarkable investment by Sequoia Capital. Sequoia led the $75 million funding round for BYJU’s in 2016.
Ola: India’s leading cab aggregator has been investors favorite since the very beginning. Sequoia Capital made its first investment in Ola during its series C funding round, helping it raise around $41 million in 2014.
Zomato: India’s restaurant discovery, and food delivery platform was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chhadah in 2008. Sequoia Capital made its first investment in Zomato in 2013. Zomato has since expanded its operations to 24 countries around the globe, covering 10,000 cities. During the recent 2018 FIFA World Cup, Zomato also claimed to cross the milestone of 1.3 crore monthly orders.
MobiKwik: India’s leading mobile wallet company was founded by Upasana Taku and Bipin Singh in 2009. MobiKwik was discovered by the firm in 2013, making constant investments ever since. MobiKwik hasn’t been able to capture the market the way its competitor Paytm has done but it still finds a place in Sequoia’s portfolio.
Mu Sigma: A data analytics company founded in 2004 by Dhiraj Rajaram, aims to help enterprises use data to make better decisions. Mu Sigma raised $25 million in a series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Its services are used by some of the top enterprises around the globe.
Unacademy: India’s largest online learning platform helps the Indian students by providing high-quality lessons from expert educators. It had first raised $11.5 million in series B funding led by Sequoia Capital. It has recently raised $21 million in series C funding. Sequoia has shown its support and confidence in Unacademy by participating in the latest round of funding.
MoneyTap: India’s first app-based consumer line of credit platform was founded in 2015 by Balaji Parthasarathy, Kunal Varma, and Anuj Kacker. Sequoia Capital invested in the platform to strengthen its position in the digital lending domain. MoneyTap acquired 300,000 users in the first six months of its launch. Currently, MoneyTap has its presence in 30 cities across the country and has over 25 lakh app downloads across platforms.
Urban Ladder: An online furniture and home good retailer was funded by Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa in 2012. It had raised $50 million in 2015 led by Sequoia Capital. Urban Ladder continues to grow in its niche and is aiming to become profitable by expanding its physical stores.
Grofers: Gurugram-based grocery delivery startup had raised funds from Sequoia Capital in 2014 when the startup was just one year old. It grew rapidly in the initial stage of its development but has recently been struggling to establish itself in the market. It continues to be a loss-making venture, trying to focus on automation and warehouses to cut costs.