Accel Partners Announces Closing of $155 Million Seed and Early Stage Fund for India

BANGALORE, India and PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Accel Partners, a leading global venture capital and growth equity firm, has announced the closing of Accel India III, a $155 million fund for seed and early stage investments in India.

The fund has attracted top tier institutional investors from North America, Europe and Asia, and will focus on opportunities in Internet services, digital media, SaaS and enterprise technologies, mobile, healthcare and education, and other high-growth sectors.  Accel currently has 34 portfolio companies in India.

"Accel appreciates the support for this fund from our greatly valued and longstanding investors.  Our core strategy in India will continue to be the same:  to be the first investment partner of choice for entrepreneurs right from company inception or the very earliest stages.  Accel will continue with its highly engaged model of company-building," said Sameer Gandhi, Partner at Accel Partners.

"While traditional venture capital and growth equity have been increasingly drawn to India over the past several years, the true seed and early stage markets are still under-served, attracting relatively smaller amounts of capital.  We have seen a significant increase in entrepreneurial activity in the last few years, and in particular, we are pleased to see strong momentum from Internet companies in India.  We believe that our global experience and expertise will help us become the preferred partner for many top-class entrepreneurs in this space," said Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel Partners.

Accel Partners has eleven investment professionals based in India, led by four partners: Mahendran Balachandran, Shekhar Kirani, Subrata Mitra, and Prashanth Prakash.  Globally, Accel Partners has invested in many category-defining Internet companies:  Dropbox, Facebook, Gameforge, Groupon, Kayak, Modcloth, Quidsi, and Spotify, among others.  In India, Accel has partnered with Internet startups such as Flipkart, Myntra, Letsbuy, HealthcareMagic, Babyoye, and Exclusively.in.

In addition to its early stage practice, Accel is also an active investor in growth equity opportunities across the globe, having recently made investments in the United States, Germany, France, Finland, Russia, China, Australia, and Brazil.  Accel's India team will also evaluate select late-stage investments in India in conjunction with this global growth equity effort.  Accel manages $3 billion in funds for these later stage growth investments, and currently has over $8 billion under management worldwide.

About Accel

Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel.

Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel.

Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including 99designs, Actuate, AdMob, Agile Software, Alfresco, Angry Birds (Rovio), Atlassian, BBN, Bonobos, Braintree, Brightcove, Cloudera, ComScore, Diapers.com (Quidsi), Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, Fusion-IO, Gameforge, GlamMedia, Groupon, Imperva, Infinera, Interwoven, IronPlanet, JBoss, Kayak, Lookout, Macromedia, metroPCS, MoPub, OPOWER, Polycom/PictureTel, Playfish, Portal Software, QlikTech, Rapt, Real Networks, Redback, Responsys, Riverbed, Spotify, Squarespace, SunRun, Trulia, UUNet, Veritas, Walmart.com, Webroot, Wonga, XenSource and Zimbra. In India, Accel has made investments in companies such as Babyoye, Cnergyis, enStage, Deeksha(Ace), Exclusively.in, Flipkart, HealthcareMagic, Kaatizone, Letsbuy, MuSigma, Myntra, Perfint, QwikCilver, Sconce, Vinculum and Virident.

For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.

SOURCE Accel Partners