Norwest Venture Partners Closes 15th Fund At $2Bn; Its Largest To Date

Venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners has closed its 15th fund at $2 Bn, making Norwest Venture Partners XV its largest fund till date.

Announcing the close on Thursday (November 14), the Palo Alto-based VC said it will use the fund to target disruptive and market-leading companies from seed to late-stage across consumer, enterprise and healthcare sectors.

The launch of Norwest Venture Partners XV, which brings the firm’s total capital commitments over the years to more than $9.5 Bn. It comes at a time when Norwest is raking in great returns from its portfolio. In a record two years, 23 of the firm’s portfolio companies achieved notable liquidity events, Norwest said in a press statement.

The 15th Fund follows Norwest Venture Partners XIV which was a $1.5 Bn fund closed in February 2018. According to Norwest, it has since made nearly 50 new investments across a range of stages and industries, as well as hired and promoted several investment partners. It also said that 15% of all its investments are led by female founders.

Norwest’s Investments In India

Norwest manages more than $9.5 Bn in capital and has since inception invested in more than 600 companies. It has partnered with more than 150 active companies currently in venture and growth equity portfolio.

Norwest India is focused on early to mid-stage venture capital investments in India across a wide range of sectors such as consumer, internet, telecom, fintech and edtech. Its investments in India include Attune Technologies, RevX, Pepperfry, Swiggy, Yatra, Yes Bank, Thyrocare, Quikr among others.

In July, sales SaaS platform MindTickle raised $40 Mn Series C funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners.

Hyderabad-based healthtech startup Multiplier Solutions raised $1.5 Mn from Norwest Venture Partners. Apart from this, Norwest has also invested $1.5 Mn in Bengaluru-based ABI Health.

Norwest Venture Partners and Bertelsmann India were one of the early investors in Mumbai-based online furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry and had pumped in $15 Mn (INR 105.6 Cr) in 2014.

Media reports in September this year also said that Norwest Venture Partners India will double its investments in the domestic market. “The investment firm is scouting for opportunities across sectors, including financial services, technology, internet, consumer, healthcare and logistics,” Livemint quoted Niren Shah, managing director and head, Norwest India.

Some of the companies that Norwest has invested in India including RBL Bank, Sadbhav Engineering, Thyrocare Technologies, and Snowman Logistics Ltd have gone public. Pepperfry is also looking to go public soon.

Moreover, at least four more—Five Star Finance, Veritas Finance, NSE and Ess Kay Finance—are expected to launch their IPOs within the next two years.

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