Peak XV Partners, one of the largest venture capital firms in India and Southeast Asia, has seen the exit of two more senior executives, Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand. Both confirmed their departure in social media posts on Tuesday.
Lakhani, who was with the firm for 17 years, has served on the boards of companies including 1mg, Bounce, Capillary, Cardekho, Healthkart, Ixigo, Moonfrog, Porter, Truecaller, Vymo, and Zetwerk.
“Professionally, I’ve reached the goals that I once set for myself, leaving me with both deep gratitude and a pull toward new challenges— ones I have yet to define but can’t wait to explore,” Lakhani shared on LinkedIn.
Anand, who joined Peak XV in 2012 and is based in Singapore, announced plans to relocate to San Francisco, where he will support founders through angel investing, advising, and collaborations. He did not provide additional details on his next steps.
Lakhani and Anand, who served as managing directors under Sequoia Capital, continued in the same roles following the firm’s rebranding to Peak XV. The exact timing of their departure remains unclear.
Peak XV declined to comment.
These exits follow several other high-profile departures from the firm in recent months. In 2024, Piyush Gupta, managing director at Peak XV, left to launch Kenro Capital, an investment firm focused on acquiring secondhand stakes in late-stage startups across India and Southeast Asia. Later that year, Anandamoy Roychowdhary, a Surge partner at Peak XV, also exited after more than 11 years with the firm. Additionally, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, the firm’s chief public policy communications officer, stepped down in September to set up the Startup Policy Forum, an industry alliance for new-age companies.
The leadership changes come less than a year after Peak XV announced a 16% reduction in the size of its $2.85-billion fund, citing inflated valuations in an overheated public market. This strategy shift followed the 2023 split into three independent entities — Peak XV Partners, focused on India & Southeast Asia; China-focused HongShan; and Sequoia Capital targeting the US and Europe. Peak XV is based in Singapore and India.
Peak XV, with offices in Singapore and India, also adjusted its fee structure, reducing the management fee for limited partners (LPs) from 2.5% to 2% and cutting the carry (profits from exits) on its growth investments from 30% to 20%, according to sources who spoke to DealStreetAsia.
Despite these internal changes, Peak XV has recently increased its exposure to US-based AI startups. In December, the firm participated in a $20.8-million Series A round for Enterpret, led by Canaan Partners; and invested in RapidCanvas, a B2B AI platform that raised $16 million. Most recently, Peak XV led a $19-million Series A round for TrueFoundry, a US-based AI deployment and scaling platform.
