Peak XV Partners, the venture capital firm spun out of Sequoia Capital two years ago, is set to raise its first independent fund with a target corpus of $1.2-1.4 billion to back early-stage investments across India and Southeast Asia, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The upcoming vehicle will mark the team’s ninth fund since launching operations in 2006. However, it will be substantially smaller than its previous fund, which had raised $2.8 billion in 2022 before being reduced by 16%.
Peak XV declined to comment on to request by DealStreetAsia.
The latest fundraise comes amid a period of transition for Peak XV. Formerly the India and Southeast Asia arm of Sequoia Capital, the firm became an independent entity in 2023 following Sequoia’s decision to split into three regional franchises: Peak XV for India and Southeast Asia, HongShan for China, and Sequoia Capital for the US and Europe. Headquartered across Singapore and India, Peak XV has raised nearly $9 billion across funds since its inception.
Its last fund in 2022 marked a record fundraising milestone for India, but the firm later trimmed the fund’s size by around 16%, citing overheated valuations in the public markets as a key reason. Since then, Peak XV has slowed its deployment pace in growth-stage investments, aligning with a broader industry trend of cautious capital allocation amid market uncertainty.
Internally, Peak XV has also witnessed a string of senior departures over the past year. Last month, longtime investor Shraeyansh Thakur exited after a nine-year stint. Earlier this year, managing directors Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand announced their resignations.
Other exits include Piyush Gupta, who left to launch secondaries-focused Kenro Capital; and Anandamoy Roychowdhary, a key partner at Surge, Peak XV’s early-stage program. In 2024, its public policy head, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, also stepped down to launch an industry advocacy platform.
Amid the transition, Peak XV has sharpened its focus on emerging technologies, ramping up its bets on US-based AI startups in recent months. In December, the firm participated in Enterpret’s $20.8-million Series A round and RapidCanvas’s $16-million raise, while it led a $19-million Series A funding round for AI deployment platform TrueFoundry.
Peak XV’s upcoming fundraise will be closely watched as a litmus test of LP confidence in the standalone brand, at a time when the broader venture capital industry is grappling with slower exits, compressed valuations, and growing competition for quality deals.
