Lightbox Ventures Makes Final Close Of Its Third Fund At $209 Mn

Mumbai-based VC Lightbox Ventures has closed its third India-focused investment fund at $209 Mn with the participation of 28 investors, according to a regulatory filing.  The fund’s closing amount is slightly higher than the fund’s initial target of $200 Mn.

In September 2018, the Mauritius-based third fund was reported to have reached 89% of its $200 Mn target. Commenting on this, founding partner of Lightbox, Sandeep Murthy had earlier told Inc42, “the firm will continue to bet on consumer technology and make few but quality investments. We will continue to explore opportunities in brands and fast-moving consumer goods, financial services, education, and healthcare.”

“With Lightbox Ventures III, we want to avoid raising an expansion fund, which we did in 2016 to support companies from its second fund. The larger fund will ensure that it already has ample capital to back its portfolio firms,” he added.

The limited partners (LPs) or investors in Lightbox’s new fund are said to include institutions, endowments, sovereign funds, foundations, and family offices.

Out of its $209 Mn third fund, Lightbox Ventures has already made a $4 Mn investment in a  biodegradable sanitary napkin and women wellness company NUA. 

Growth Of Lightbox Portfolio 

Lightbox Ventures was founded by Siddharth Talwar and Sandeep Murthy in 2014. The firm has since then invested in 16 startups including online food delivery startup Faasos, automobile marketplace Droom, online travel aggregator Cleartrip, furniture rental startup Furlenco, mobile adtech startup InMobi, and GPS navigation company MapMyIndia, among others

The fund made a successful exit from edtech startup Embibe when Reliance Industries invested $180 Mn in the company, buying out 72.69% stake of investors including Lightbox. Other startups that Lightbox has exited include Cleartrip, Info Edge, InMobi, MapMyIndia and Parabo.  

Earlier this week, Rebel Foods was looking to raise about $73.22 Mn Series D round from New York-based technology hedge fund Coatue Management. Prior to this, the company has also raised a $5 Mn investment from Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek in July. 

Another investee company of Lightbox, Droom is planning to be listed on Nasdaq by 2021 along with expanding globally. In addition to this, the automobile marketplace was also looking for a $250 Mn funding in July. 

Also, Furlenco has raised a $5.84 Mn Series C round from Lightbox Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, and others in March 2019. This was a follow-up investment in Furlenco by Lightbox, which has initially invested in the startup in 2014.