Lee Fixel’s Addition Set To Raise $1.5 Bn Fifth VC Fund

SUMMARY

Addition continues to secure large amounts of funds for what could be its fifth fund in the last four years

Clarity is yet to emerge on the geographies and sectors targeted by the newly announced fund

Investors have so far unveiled 32 funds worth more than $3 Bn this year, targeted largely at Indian startups across various stages

Despite the ongoing funding winter, Lee Fixel-backed venture capital (VC) firm Addition plans to raise $1.5 Bn as part of its new fund.

The disclosures were part of regulatory filings filed by Addition. The VC firm continues to secure large amounts of funds for what could be its fifth fund in the last four years

Addition joins a long list of VC and private equity (PE) firms that have resorted to accumulating dry powder amid inclement market conditions. The funding winter has seen investors scale down their pace and, in many instances, slashing their funding targets.

It was not immediately clear which geographies or sectors the fund would target its focus. The New York-based company has so far raised four funds, all with a corpus in excess of $1.2 Bn

Lee Fixel is a former Tiger Global executive who previously had a knack for discovering Indian startups (such as Ola, Flipkart and Quikr) before they acquired prominence. A case in point was Fixel, which spearheaded Tiger Global’s investment in Flipkart when the homegrown startup ecosystem was largely overlooked by global VC investors.

This was much before international investment giants such as Japan’s Softbank and China-based Tencent entered India.

On the other hand, Lee founded Addition in 2019 and then raised its maiden $1.2 Bn fund the next year. It followed it up with another $1.4 Bn fund in late 2020 and then the third $1.5 Bn fund in 2021.

Addition’s notable investments in India include news platform Inshorts, SaaS startup SuperOps.ai, and social-network app Public App.

Overall, Addition has assets under management (AUM) worth $6.5 Bn and is reportedly sitting on the dry powder of $3.8 Bn. Curiously, the VC firm signed 33 deals in 2022 against 49 in 2021.

Despite the funding winter, VC firms have gone on a spree of fund announcements in the past one year. According to Inc42, investors have so far unveiled 32 funds worth more than $3 Bn this year. Of this, 66% of the funds focussed on early stage startups.